SOCIETY OP THE UNIVERSITY OP ABERDEEN. 



133 



BLACKHILLS SHORT CIST. 



This cist was recovered at Blackhills, Tyrie, in July, 1905. The 

 cist was unearthed while Mr. John Milne was excavating gravel. 

 Professor Keid, Mr. J. F. Tocher and myself visited and made a 

 careful examination of the cist which, except for being opened at 

 one corner, had been left untouched. Thanks are due to Mr. A. G. 

 Brown, factor to Lord Saltoun, for taking steps to have the cist and 

 its contents kept undisturbed and for affording us facilities for the 

 examination of the cist. 



There is a depth of some two feet of soil and gravel above the 

 covering stones of the cist. The long axis of the cist lies E.S.E. 



The roof of the cist is formed by 

 two somewhat irregular flat stones. 

 The cist has been opened by the re- 

 moval of one of the roofing stones at 

 its south-east corner. The stone re- 

 moved is triangular in shape, and mea- 

 sures two feet along its base and about 

 one foot in thickness. Internally the 

 cist is not quite rectangular, the north- 

 west corner being obtuse (Fig. 4). The 

 internal measurements of the cist are 

 3 feet in length, 2 feet in width, and 

 1 foot 9 inches in depth. Fig. 4 is a 

 plan of the cist, and shows the various stones forming its walls. The 

 stones forming the walls are not closely jointed. The floor of the 

 cist is paved with rounded water-worn pebbles of a uniform size and 

 appearance. 



Contents of Cist.- The cist contains the remains of the skeleton 

 of an adult male and an urn. The urn lay at the south-east corner, 

 tilted against the east end of the cist and near the skull. There were 

 no flints nor pieces of charcoal, but the greater part of the skeleton 

 was covered by a felted substance in which \>\\ microscopic examina- 



Fig. 4. Short cist at BlacUhills, Tyrie. 



