By Alan Wilson

BUILDERS PREPARING land for new housing at Ballumbie Castle Estate on the outskirts of Dundee have unearthed a mysterious ancient burial ground which may have been used to dispose of the bodies of people who died from the plague.

Bones, teeth and pieces of human skulls lie scattered across the ground on a section of the site, which lies to the north of Ballumbie Castle Golf Course, bordering the hamlet of Burnside of Duntrune.

Nearby, a large upright gravestone sits against an ivy-covered dry-stane dyke marking the spot villagers believe is the ancient burial ground.

Builders Stuart Milne Homes have erected temporary metal fencing around the site, and a series of stone walls which villagers say might possibly have been an old house or walled area have also been unearthed.

One resident of Burnside of Duntrune said yesterday the metal fencing had alerted him to the fact that the builders might have been digging on the old burial ground.

“I remember my uncle told me in 1975 that there was a cemetery there,” he said.

“He said people who had died from the plague were brought from the castle and laid there. I only noticed the fencing this morning when I was out walking and I went to have a look and found the bones in full view.

“I don’t know whether archaeologists have been out already but there are pins in the ground marking out something beside the bones and teeth. Hopefully the builders have stopped work there until somebody finds out exactly what it is,” he added.

The offices of Stuart Milne Homes in Aberdeen were closed yesterday and no one was available for comment.