Canmore Site 41144: ARDROSSAN, CANNON HILL - ARDROSSAN - CAVE (PERIOD UNASSIGNED), SHELL MIDDEN (PERIOD UNASSIGNED)
Description
Site Name | ARDROSSAN, CANNON HILL |
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Other Name(s) | n/a |
Site Number | NS24SW 9 |
Broad Class | AGRICULTURE AND SUBSISTENCE, MONUMENT (BY FORM), DOMESTIC |
Site Type(s) | CAVE (PERIOD UNASSIGNED), SHELL MIDDEN (PERIOD UNASSIGNED) |
NGR | NS 2313 4218 |
NGR accuracy | NGR given to the nearest 10m |
Local Authority | NORTH AYRSHIRE |
Parish | ARDROSSAN |
Record created | 1988-03-07 |
Last updated | 2000-04-12 |
Archaeology Notes
NS24SW 9 2313 4218.
(Approximately NS 2313 4218) A shell-mound, measuring 102ft by 16ft, on the SW side of Cannon Hill, close to Ardrossan railway station, was excavated by Smith. Its length was mostly overhung by a few feet, by the rock face, which had formed a rock-shelter, which the excavation showed had been occupied at intervals over a considerable period of time. Prior to Smith's excavation, the railway workings had cut a longitudinal section in the mound, which overlay a 1ft layer of raised beach sand. The mound was composed of shells, mainly periwinkle and limpet, and animal bones.
Relics found included a stone 'anchor' with a groove cut round it for a rope, a possible stone sinker, fragments of very coarse, hand-made pottery, also some pieces of wheel-turned, glazed pottery, a bone chisel, two bone needles, etc. Human bones, some of which were exhibited in Glasgow in 1911, on loan from Smith, were also found.
J Smith 1894; 1895; Palace of History 1911
Bone implements and a hammerstone from this site were donated to the NMAS from the collection of the late J Smith in 1931 (Acc. nos. HR 840-6).
Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1931; NMAS Card Index
No trace of any remains of this shell mound was seen.
Visited by OS (JLD) 7 September 1956
Identifiers and Links to Other Records
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Canmore Site Number (legacy): NS24SW 9 | No linked record |
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