Rich With Historical Interest
Trace 5000 years of humanity across awe-inspiring Kilmartin
WHEN you think of ancient standing stones, burial mounds and cairns, Brodgar on Orkney or Callanish on Lewis spring to mind. However, there’s a wee glen in the West of Scotland that rivals both in terms of archaeological importance.
Kilmartin Glen contains, quite simply, the most important concentration of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains on the Scottish mainland.
It lies on the A816, surrounding the village of Kilmartin to the north of Lochgilphead. The village’s museum gives you a valuable introduction to this incredible part of Scotland but a stroll into the glen itself will take your breath away.
It’ll take more than a stroll to uncover all that Kilmartin has to offer, however – more than 800 ancient monuments can be found within a 10km (6-mile) radius of the village!
Dr Sharon Webb, curator of archaeology at Kilmartin Museum, has been living and working in the area for 16 years and has still to visit all the sites.
“It’s an amazing landscape to live and work in,” she says. “I feel privileged to be curator of some of the prehistoric artefacts from these sites and monuments, to ensure they are available for future generations to enjoy.
“I visit the monuments as often as I can, but I’ve not visited all the sites yet and we discover new sites every year. However, every time I visit, I’m struck with awe that all these remains have survived.
“The most striking aspect of the whole glen is the dense concentration of ritual and burial monuments in one place.
“There’s an extraordinary concentration of rock art sites, and we have found some of the most important prehistoric artefacts in Scotland.”
It begs the question – why did these ancient people, from across different centuries, choose Kilmartin for such an amazing collection?
“It might partly be related to the orientation of the geological landform,” continues Sharon, “which suited the prehistoric concern with alignment and the movement of the sun and moon across the sky.
“Later, it may have also been related to local sources of copper, a valuable material in the early Bronze Age.”
The focal point of the glen is the museum, and a visit is to be recommended before you venture into the glen itself. Guided tours of the memorials are on offer every Wednesday, and the museum offers events throughout the year.
July 18 sees a festival of archaeology, and there are visits planned – on July 19 and August 9 – to the deserted village of Arichonan, a victim of the Highland Clearances.
For more information go to www.kilmartin.org