National Monuments Record of Scotland

John Sinclair House, 16 Bernard Terrace, Edinburgh, EH8 9NX 
Tel: 0131-662-1456 Fax: 0131-662-1477/1499 E-mail rcahms.jsh@gtnet.gov.uk 

OBAN, DRUIMVARGIE ROCK SHELTER

Type of Site: Cave; Occupation Site
NMRS Number: NM82NE 2 

Location

Map reference: NM 857 296
Parish: Kilmore And Kilbride
Council: Argyll And Bute 

Archaeology Notes

NM82NE 2 centred 8574 2962.

(Approx. NM 8574 2962) In 1898 a shelter cave was exposed on the south face of Druimvargie, and Dr Anderson of Edinburgh conducted the excavation.. No human remains were unearthed, but finds included beds of shells, and barbed bone points and other implements.

Information from the Oban Times 26 August 1933.

The archaeological material recovered from Druimvargie Cave, now in the NMAS (HL 390-438), is similar to that from the MacArthur Cave (NM83SE 9), the type-site of the Obanian culture. The cave was weather-worn to a depth of 8-10ft in slaty rock, and was 15ft wide.

A D Lacaille 1954.

Druimvargie Cave: Destroyed during house erection.

OS 6"map, annotated by Dr I Campbell, 1933.

Unable to site more accurate than the reference by the Oban Times. Visited by OS (W D J) 3 December 1964.

Uniserial bone harpoon (NMS HL 404) dated by radiocarbon to 5860 +/- 90bc (OxA-1948), 6040-5680 cal BC.

NMRS MS/735/1. 

Collection Summary

Photographs: 0
Drawings: 1
Manuscripts: 3
Other Material: 0 

Bibliography

Anderson, J (1898 )
'Notes on the contents of a small cave or rock-shelter at Druimvargie, Oban; and of three shell-mounds in Oronsay',
Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 32, 1897-8, 298-306

Lacaille, A D (1954 a)
The Stone Age in Scotland,
London, 206-8

RCAHMS (1975 )
The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Argyll: an inventory of the ancient monuments: volume 2: Lorn,
Edinburgh, 5