Duntroon Cave

Duntroon Cave lies in Kilmartin Glen, Argyll and Bute, on the north side of the private road between Duntroon Lodge and Duntrune Castle. It was found in 1862 while low cliffs were being quarried and was later destroyed by the work. The cave once opened about 220 metres west of the lodge. Reginald J. Mapleton examined the site and recorded an 8.5-metre-long passage that narrowed from 3 metres to 0.9 metres wide and from 3.4 metres to 0.9 metres high. Beneath fallen rubble human skeletons were uncovered. One skeleton sat upright beside the bones of an infant about 30 centimetres away. Scattered remains of at least six more people lay on the cave floor. At the deepest point a flat stone ringed by ash and charcoal showed signs of burning and was identified as a hearth. Among the finds were the nearly complete skeleton of a red deer, many shells and the bones of a large seabird, together with flint flakes and a flint block. The discoveries at Duntroon Cave match those from Raschoille Cave near Oban. They point to repeated burials rather than a single rock-fall disaster. The cave’s contents were recorded before the site was lost to quarrying.