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.

• Type

  Legal Documents

  Title

  SM11606_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600014042)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises an alignment of three Bronze Age burial barrows surviving as buried (negative) features. It lies in a cultivated field 200m WSW of Fonn at about 25m above sea level, near to the campsite between Little Kildrummie and Howford Bridge.

The monument is a buried feature, visible on aerial photographs as a cropmark. The three barrows are aligned ENE to WSW, with the separation distances between each being approximately 11m for the W and central barrows and 15m for the central and E barrows. The central and W barrows are approximately the same size, each measuring approximately 11m in internal diameter within a 1.5m wide uninterrupted ditch. The E barrow is smaller, measuring 3.5m in internal diameter within a 1.0m wide ditch.

The area to be scheduled is rectangular on plan, to include the remains described and an area around within which evidence relating to their construction and use may survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Statement of National Importance

Cultural Significance

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

Intrinsic characteristics: An alignment of barrows visible as buried features on an aerial photograph, the monument is a well-preserved element of the Bronze Age funerary landscape. Potential exists for archaeological deposits and environmental remains to be preserved both in the interior of the monument and within the ditches surrounding each barrow, providing not only information on the usage of the barrow but also evidence of the Bronze Age environment within which the monument was built. The monument has the potential to further our understanding of Bronze Age funerary practices, as well as inform our knowledge of the structural features of barrows and surrounding ditches.

Contextual characteristics: The three barrows are representative of the clusters of prehistoric burial monuments which characterise this region. Their inclusion in an alignment of Bronze-Age sites that is 2.1km long and stretches from the nearby ring-ditch at Howford Bridge to the large upstanding barrow at Hangman's Hill enhances their value. This alignment and line of sight also cuts straight through the Late Neolithic to Early Historic settlement and funerary site 750 m WSW of Little Kildrummie. Spatial analysis of these barrows and other burial sites may further our understanding of funerary site location, the structure of society, and Bronze Age economy. Information gained from the preservation and study of this site has the potential to provide an insight into the wider knowledge of Bronze Age funerary practices across Scotland.

Associative characteristics: This monument represents a style of architecture developed during the Bronze Age as an expression of death and burial. Adjacent to the River Nairn, the deliberate positioning of the monument in relation to both the landscape and other contemporary sites adds an aesthetic attribute to its overall significance.

National Importance

This monument is of national importance because it is a well-preserved, representative cluster of Bronze Age barrows of differing size that characterise the wider relict funerary landscape, forming an intrinsic element of the prehistoric burial and settlement pattern along the River Nairn. Its inclusion in a 2.1km-long alignment of Bronze-Age sites across the landscape enhances its significance. Whilst the above-ground structure of the barrows has been lost to the wider landscape, archaeological and environmental deposits are likely to remain preserved within the ditches of each barrow. Potential exists for these deposits to provide information about what the contemporary environment looked like and how the prehistoric farmers who buried and cremated their dead in the barrows managed the land. Capacity exists for the monument to help further our understanding of the use of space for death and burial during the Bronze Age along this part of the North Highlands coastal plain. Its loss would impede our ability to understand the placing of such monuments within the landscape both in this region and across Scotland, as well as our knowledge of Bronze Age social structure and economy.

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.

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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.