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Mid Gleniron is a prehistoric site in
Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...
used in the Neolithic and Bronze Age. The site is a scheduled ancient monument that comprises a group of six burial cairns. Two of the cairns, Mid Gleniron I and Mid Gleniron II are
chambered cairn A chambered cairn is a burial monument, usually constructed during the Neolithic, consisting of a sizeable (usually stone) chamber around and over which a cairn of stones was constructed. Some chambered cairns are also passage-graves. They are fo ...
s of the Clyde tradition. These are of historic importance because of their multi-stage construction which provides evidence for the development of Clyde cairns at the beginning of the Neolithic period.


Mid Gleniron I & II

The chamber cairns, Mid Gleniron I & II, were excavated by Corcoran between 1963 and 1966. These excavations revealed a multi-period construction. Mid Gleniron I was revealed to have been originally two separate, small (5m diameter) rectangular cairns, each with entrances into single chambers. These cairns were set in the same direction, with their cambers aligned. Thomas notes the close positioning of these two cairns implies that it was anticipated that they would be incorporated into a larger construction. At a later date, these cairns were modified and subsumed into a large trapezoidal cairn. A third chamber was added as well as a forecourt, typical of Clyde cairns. The facade marking out the forecourt was made of standing stones measuring over eight meters across. Mid Gleniron II also apparently began as a set of two smaller cairns. Like at Mid Gleniron I, this site was transformed into a large trapezoidal cairn with forecourt. However, here only one of the cairns was subsumed and altered by the new monument. The forecourt led into a new chamber which was blocked centuries later in the early Bronze Age. Historic Environment Scotland's Statement of National Importance for the site notes its potentially international significance for shedding light on "the sequence and development of funerary and ritual architecture during the Neolithic and early Bronze Age." Excavation at
Droughdool Mote Droughdool Mote (also spelled Droughduil) () is a Neolithic round mound in the parish of Old Luce, Wigtownshire, Dumfries and Galloway. The mound is oval in plan, measuring 60m by 50m at its base and rises to 10m in height. It is located 400m south ...
between 1999-2002 revealed a round cairn at the top of the mound, similar in construction to Mid Gleniron A.


References

{{Reflist Archaeological sites in Wigtownshire Historic Scotland properties in Dumfries and Galloway Megalithic monuments in Scotland Neolithic Scotland Bronze Age Scotland Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Dumfries and Galloway Chambered cairns in Scotland