Scheduled Monument

Dell Farm,burial mounds 350m NE ofSM4536

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
07/07/1988
Supplementary Information Updated
15/12/2017
Type
Prehistoric ritual and funerary: barrow; cairn (type uncertain)
Local Authority
Highland
Parish
Boleskine And Abertarff
NGR
NH 49294 17177
Coordinates
249294, 817177

Description

The monument comprises at least 3 round and 4 oblong or trapezoidal burial mounds, and probably also burial cists, all of the first millennium AD. In the same area are at very least 5 small round cairns, and small enclosures and low banks. The oblong or trapezoidal mounds vary from about 4.5m square up to 7m by 8m; their heights range from 0.2m to 1m.

They are each surrounded by a shallow ditch about 1m broad outwith which is a small bank with gaps at the corners of ditch or bank or both. Two well preserved near circular burial mounds are visible, one 6m and one up to 9m in diameter, each inside a shallow ditch and bank; their heights are 0.2 and 0.4m. An oval cairn to their south measures about 9m by 12m but has no perceptible bank or ditch. The 5 small cairns vary in diameter from about 4.5 to 6m and are up to 0.7m high.

The area also contains small areas defined by low banks, with maximum dimensions 8.5m and shapes varying from round to trapezoidal, which may be remains of later houses and domestic structures. There are however numerous vague mounds in the immediate vicinity and the cemetery, like others of the Pictish period, probably contains numerous burials in long cists.

The area to be scheduled includes the structures described above and an area within which cists and remains of activities associated with construction and use of the mounds will survive measuring up to 120m NS by up 150m EW with its E edge marked by but excluding a fence as delineated in red on the attached map.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is a cemetery of the first millennium AD and a variant of a Pictish type; it is one of the few such barrow and cairn cemeteries known in Scotland. It is of national importance because it is a fine and distinctive field monument with the potential to increase understanding of burial customs in the first millennium AD.

References

Bibliography

No Bibliography entries for this designation

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: 28/03/2024 12:44