New evidence uncovered for BRONZE AGE BURIAL RITES: An early bronze age cemetery discovered near Helensburgh by GUARD Archaeology has revealed long-lost secrets of burial rites from bronze age Scotland.

A recent excavation near Helensburgh by GUARD Archaeology has uncovered new evidence about burial rites in Bronze Age Scotland. The excavation revealed a cemetery with stone-lined graves, or cists, dating back to 2467-2290 BCE. The graves contained fragments of pyre material but no human remains, suggesting that the material was sufficient to represent the dead. The cemetery also contained larger cists from around 2140-1930 BCE, which held the cremated remains of at least two adults and a child or young person. The reuse of the burial site at different periods may have reinforced ownership or connections to ancestors. The excavation also revealed that the Bronze Age community was not the first to occupy the site, as evidence of a late Neolithic kerbed cairn and even earlier occupation from the late Upper Palaeolithic or early Mesolithic periods was also found. The excavation was funded by Bellway Homes and required as a condition of planning consent by Argyll and Bute Council. The full excavation report is available for download from Archaeology Reports Online. [Extracted from the article]