Isles of the Dead?: The Setting and Function of the Bronze Age Chambered Cairns and Cists of the Isles of Scilly 2015

The number and density of megalithic chambered cairns in the Isles of Scilly, a tiny archipelago that forms the most south-westerly part of the British Isles, has been remarked upon since the 18th century. Isles of the Dead? examines these sites, generally known as entrance graves, and the associated cist graves. Their physical structure and contents, as well as their landscape setting, orientation and inter-visibility, are discussed. The origins and functions of the monuments and their significance to the communities that built and used them are also considered. The findings indicate that the entrance graves were indeed used for burial and that a wide range of grave goods, including prestige items, were placed in them. The pottery, in particular, shows the development of a specific island identity. The first radiocarbon determinations from the graves suggest a period of use between c2000 and 1250 cal BC. This coincides with the inundation of large areas of low-lying land in the islands and suggests that the construction of entrance graves may have been regarded as a way of ‘holding the line’ against the depredations of the sea.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction 2 Recent approaches to the study of megaliths and their application to Scilly 3 Previous research on the entrance graves and cists of Scilly 4 The physical characteristics of the scillonian entrance graves and cists 5 The contents of the Scillonian entrance graves and cists 6 The setting of the Scillonian entrance graves and cists 7 The function of the Scillonian sites 8 Dating the entrance graves and cists 9 Comparisons with chambered cairns and cists elsewhere in the British Isles and Brittany 10 Conclusions Appendix 1: Catalogue of Scillonian entrance graves and cists and their contents Appendix 2: Concordance of sites. Appendix 3: Extracts from the notebooks of George Bonsor Bibliography