Documents

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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.

• Type

  Legal Documents

  Title

  SM11543_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600014018)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises the remains of three hut circles, visible as upstanding walls located on the highest point of a low ridge. The hut circles are likely to be the remains of Late Bronze Age or Iron Age roundhouses, dating to the first or second millennium BC.

The monument lies on a low ridge, at 270 to 280m OD, 660m WSW of Clachandruim and is marked on the 1:10000 Ordnance Survey map. It consists of three curvilinear stone banks. The E hut circle measures 10m diameter within a rubble-faced earthen bank 2m thick and 0.5m high. The middle hut circle is pear-shaped and measures a maximum of 11.5m by 8.5m within stony banks up to 2.5m thick and 0.4m high. The W hut circle measures a maximum of 10m by 8.5m within a stone bank up to 2.5m thick and 0.4m high. The S arc includes some outer facing stones and a natural boulder. All have entrances in the ESE.

The area proposed for scheduling comprises three discrete areas, each circular on plan and centred on a hut circle, to include the remains described and an area around them within which related material may be expected to be found, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Statement of National Importance

Cultural Significance

The monument's cultural significance can be expressed as follows:

Intrinsic characteristics: The monument consists of a well-preserved example of three later prehistoric roundhouses, with upstanding remains dating to the first or second millennium BC. The monument retains well constructed drystone walls, with some facing stones still evident. Given the site's current use as pastureland, with extensive boggy patches, it is likely that archaeologically significant deposits relating to construction, use and abandonment of the structures remain in place. In addition, it is likely that deposits survive that could provide data relating to the later prehistoric environment. The site has considerable potential to enhance understanding of later prehistoric roundhouses and the daily lives of the people who occupied them.

Contextual characteristics: The monument is a good representative of a once common class. These hut circles are the only ones in the immediate area that have not been affected by forestry planting since the 1960s. Several other hut circle sites lie within 1 km of this monument and as a group have the potential to provide a better understanding of how later prehistoric society was structured. In particular, there are fragments of what may have been a ritual landscape, including burnt mounds and standing stones, with the potential to provide information on the relationship between the agricultural/domestic and the ritual/funerary practices of the period.

National Importance: The monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to make a significant addition to the understanding of the past, in particular Bronze or Iron Age society and the nature of later prehistoric domestic practice. This potential is enhanced by its good preservation and the survival of marked field characteristics. The loss of the example would significantly impede our ability to understand the Iron Age in N Scotland.

References

Bibliography

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.