A group of Glasgow antiquarians and magistrates visiting excavations at Greenoakhill, Mount Vernon, in April 1928. Ludovic Mann, a well-known Glasgow antiquarian, stands third from the right in the front row. The man next to him is holding a skull. The site dates to the earlier Bronze Age (between 2700 and 1400 BC).
The burials were found on the summit of a ridge during the working of a sandpit. The first items to be found there were three pottery vessels, followed by a number of cist burials. Cist burials occur when the grave is lined with stone slabs, creating a box effect.
The dead were accompanied with a variety of burial goods. One elderly man was buried with a flint arrowhead, while a young woman was found with a flint knife, a white pebble and a pot. The pot (a type known as a Food Vessel) contained traces of oats and rye. Another cist held a teenager who had been buried with a food vessel and covered in a layer of soft moss. Traces of a cremation and a burial in a wooden coffin were also found.
Reference: 184
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Museums
Keywords:
antiquarians, archaeologists, archaeology, Bronze Age, cist burials, councillors, excavations, food vessels, grave robbers, human remains, magistrates, prehistory, skulls, teenagers, women