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Sculptor's Cave

Covesea, Lossiemouth, parish of Drainie, Moray, (Elginshire).

This cave still has clear-cut excavation trenches,and a number of sculptures that could have given the cave its name, were noticed. The cave has two entrances, side by side and partly boarded up. The east entrance is 3.0m wide and 2.5m high; and that on the west is 2.0m wide and 4.5m high (where excavated). From the entrances, two passages, 11.0m long, run into a cavern 20.0 x 13.5m and 4.0m high. The floor near the entrance is of trampled earth and, in the interior, of loose shingle. Nov 62 visit (Canmore entry) It is almost inaccessible, except at low tide, which requires a scramble along the beach before climbing up to the twin entrances at the mouth of the cave. (also Canmore) It is a major archeological site with evidence of intermittent human occupation from 12th century BC.

Alternative Names: Sculpted Cave, Drainie Cave

Notes: A place of ritual importance, located in north-east Scotland on the south shore of the Moray Firth, close to the village of Covesea. The symbols, which include multiple crescent and V-rods, a mirror, a fish, pentacles, a triple oval, and a flower. The cave was first excavated by Sylvia Benton between 1928 and 1930. Peeling back layers of sand on the cave floor revealed burnt deposits of black and red soils, and evidence for stone-built hearths. A substantial number of objects were discovered within these layers, which suggested that people were using the cave from the Late Bronze Age through to the medieval period. Finds included a distinctive Late Bronze Age metal assemblageand finds from the Roman Iron Age (Benton 1931; Armit and Schulting 2007). Also human remains, predominantly children.

In the late 1970s, supported by Historic Scotland and Grampian Regional Council, archaeologists Ian and Alexandra Shepherd undertook rescue excavation of the remaining deposits. Their excavations showed complex soil deposits, with potential structures within the cave. They also discovered additional Late Bronze Age metalwork and more human remains.

The human remains strongly suggested the cave had been used for ritual purposes. Benton discovered evidence for at least 28 individuals, Shepherd added a few more. The bone included fragments of skulls, jaw bones, leg bones and parts of the spine and neck displaying cut marks consistent with decapitation possible evidence for the curation and display of human remains. Ian Armit et al. (2011) significantly improved understanding of the human remains. Researchers showed most of the human bone dated to two distinct periods of activity; the Late Bronze Age, between the 12th and the 10th century BC and a second concentration in the Roman Iron Age, between the 1st and the 4th century AD. The decapitations, focussed in the second phase, are interpreted as executions 'carried out in a place of ritual importance at a time of rapid political change' (Armit et al 2011).

This site remains key to understanding ritual activity in prehistoric Scotland and HES Archaeology Programme is funding further work on the site archive including the collation, analysis and publication of the previous excavations, led by Professor Ian Armit and Dr Lindsay Büster from the University of Bradford. Additional support from Aberdeenshire Council will facilitate the use of innovative techniques, including laser scanning, acoustic modelling, and ground-penetrating radar.

An excavation was undertaken (as part of the Covesea Caves Project) on what was believed to be Sylvia Benton's 1928-30 spoil heap outside the cave entrance over two weeks in May 2014. This was undertaken in order to ascertain whether this represented the location of the discarded human bone from the 1930 season of fieldwork and, if so, to recover as much of this material as time and resources permitted.

Sondages measuring c2 x 2m were opened up at each end of a trench measuring c6 x 2m. A total of 103 fragments of human bone were recovered, as well as a bone pin and an Iron Age yellow glass bead.

The cave was laser-scanned by Bradford Visualisation (University of Bradford) and high resolution structured light scanning was undertaken by Dr Adrian Evans (Fragmented Heritage, University of Bradford) on a selection of the Pictish carvings. Ground penetrating radar was also undertaken inside the cave. Acoustic modelling was also carried out within the cave by Dr Rupert Till from the University of Huddersfield.