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

  SM11851_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600014113)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises the remains of an Early Bronze-Age passage grave surviving as a low sub-circular stone and turf covered mound, a circular arrangement of outer kerbstones and a single standing stone lying 15m to the E of the mound. It belongs to a class of burial cairn known as Clava cairns and several examples of these can be found in the Clava area, less than 2km to the N. The monument survives in cultivated land at 200m above sea level on the S side of the river Nairn.

The cairn is roughly circular and about 11m in diameter, defined by a ring of outer kerbstones. A definite interruption to the kerb on its W has been interpreted as the outer end of the passage leading to a central burial chamber. The mound has a central depression which may represent the collapse of this chamber. Lastly, a single standing stone survives in the E half of the site and may be one of a number of similar stones forming a circle around the burial mound.

The area to be scheduled is a clipped circle on plan, to include the remains described above and an area around them in which traces of activity associated with the construction and use of the monument may be expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The above-ground elements of the modern field boundary are specifically excluded from the scheduling.

Statement of National Importance

Cultural Significance

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

Intrinsic characteristics: The monument retains several of the key field characteristics of its class (the Clava cairn): a circular platform, a defined outer kerb, central burial chamber and the remains of a stone circle. More specifically, field research undertaken by Reading University indicates that the position of each of the kerbstones of Clava cairns is deliberate and graded towards the SW. This is a trait shared with other Clava-type burial monuments. Archaeological fieldwork at other similar sites has shown how complex the development of these types of burial monument is and this cairn is likely to be no different. It is therefore a good example of its class, not just because of its structural components and that fact that these are likely to be still in place, but because of what lies underneath the monument and its ability to tell us about the climate, flora and fauna and wider environment during the Early Bronze Age in this location.

Contextual characteristics: This is an example of a geographically specific type of Bronze-Age burial monument, the so-called Clava cairn. Only 50 or so examples exist and they are generally limited to NE Scotland around Inverness, Strathnairn and the Moray Firth. This monument shares many traits in the wider landscape with nearby monuments at Culchunaig and Leanach, and further afield with the dense concentration of burial monuments in the cemetery at Balnuaran of Clava. Specifcally, it has been positioned and apparently oriented with a general respect for the nearby river Nairn, a significant view northwards over the Moray Firth to the Black Isle and Ben Wyvis and, in a wider sense, with the geological layout of the Great Glen. The passage that was built to connect the monument's central chamber to the outer edge of the kerb and wider world is aligned SW-NE, in common with Clava cairns throughout the region.

Associative characteristics: This part of the highlands is well known for its rich variety of prehistory and history, through its surviving field monuments. This monument plays a part in this story, despite it being relatively unknown to archaeologists and the wider public until the mid 1990s.

It is the view of most prehistorians that there was an intimate relationship between the religious beliefs expressed by monuments such as here, the surrounding landscape and the movements of the main astronomical bodies. This astronomical link continues to generate considerable interest today.

National Importance

This monument is of national importance because it represents a rare and regionally distinctive class of Early Bronze-Age monument that can help us to understand burial and ritual practices in NE Scotland and their relationship to what is happening elsewhere in the British Isles. It is significant, single component of a much larger prehistoric landscape and can contribute to our understanding how monument complexes like this develop. The loss of the monument would affect our future ability to appreciate and understand the prehistoric landscape and its inhabitants.

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.