Scheduled Monument

Na Sidheanan, burial mounds 200m N of Laig Farm, EiggSM10994

Status: Designated

Documents

Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).

The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.

Summary

Date Added
23/02/2004
Supplementary Information Updated
04/05/2018
Type
Prehistoric domestic and defensive: cave
Local Authority
Highland
Parish
Small Isles
NGR
NM 46671 87921
Coordinates
146671, 787921

Description

The monument comprises a group of small burial mounds, probably of late Iron Age date.

At least 14 burial mounds, mostly near-square on plan and from 5m to 2.5m across, are located on slight, turf-covered, shingle ridges close to the present-day shoreline. The mounds are edged with medium-sized earthfast boulders and filled with smaller stones and earth. Several mounds display distinctive upright corner stones, and some have been dug into in the past. The mounds are in clusters. On the seaward-most ridge, at the NE end of the area, are 7 mounds which lack any significant large stones in their kerbs, plus an outlier some 25m to the E. On the next terrace inland are 4 mounds with very distinct kerbs and central hollows, again with another mound of similar character lying about 25m to the E. On the next terrace, still moving inland, are two very distinctly kerbed mounds. A later rectangular building foundation lies 35m to the E. Finally, on the W side of a N-S stream gully to the W of these groups of mounds, lies a single mound which has been partially eroded. Running N-S across the area are several slight banks of stones, which may be old field boundaries or else the remains of kelp-drying walls.

The appearance of these mounds and their orderly arrangement strongly suggests that they are square barrows of the type normally ascribed to the late Iron Age or Pictish period. The nature of the site - above the shoreline, near the best farmland on the island and with splendid open views towards the mountains of Rum - may have been significant in the choice of burial location.

The area to be scheduled is irregular on plan, measuring a maximum of 110m N-S m by 200m E-W, to include all of the mounds mentioned above and an area around and among them in which evidence relating to their construction and use may survive. The area is marked in red on the accompanying map extract.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance as one of the finest groups of square kerbed barrows in Scotland. Despite some old disturbance, the site retains great potential to provide information about early to mid 1st millennium AD burial practices and contemporary land use.

References

Bibliography

The monument is recorded by RCAHMS as NM48NE 12.

About Scheduled Monuments

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).

The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.

Scheduled monument consent is required to carry out certain work, including repairs, to scheduled monuments. Applications for scheduled monument consent are made to us. We are happy to discuss your proposals with you before you apply and we do not charge for advice or consent. More information about consent and how to apply for it can be found on our website at www.historicenvironment.scot.

Find out more about scheduling and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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Printed: 29/03/2024 14:12