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

  SM65_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600003023)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises two Bronze-Age standing stones situated on the exposed brow of a hill, to the SSW of Ardlair.

The individual stones are aligned N-S, with their long sides facing each other. The stones align with a recumbent stone circle 220 m to the WNW. Pictish people reused the northern stone in the early medieval period (probably the 6th or 7th centuries AD), when they incised three symbol designs on it: the so-called elephant lies above a mirror, with a tuning fork to the right-hand side.

The area to be scheduled is lozenge-shaped on plan, to include the stones and an area around them in which evidence related to their construction and use may survive, as marked in red on the attached map.

Statement of National Importance

Cultural Significance

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

Intrinsic characteristics: The stones have the potential to enhance the study of Bronze-Age communities and their ritual practices in Britain. Their proximity to the nearby Ardlair recumbent stone circle indicates that they are part of a wider ceremonial complex, either 'outliers', or the remains of a second stone circle, or part of a stone row that might even pre-date the stone circle.

The symbol-incised stone bears well-preserved carvings that have the potential to enhance the study of Pictish symbol stones, the development of Insular art in Britain and Ireland and technical aspects of carving stones in the early medieval period.

Very few symbol-incised stones still stand where they were first erected (for instance, this applies to only 4/43 examples in this area). As here, surviving examples show a preference for location on low knolls that form relatively prominent local features, and there is a recurring association with water.

Contextual characteristics: The standing stones at Ardlair are part of a distribution of standing stones extending over much of Britain. Because we find these monuments over much of Britain, it indicates that elements of the ritual practices of Bronze-Age communities were also widespread.

The Picts used their unique symbols in a range of contexts, but we find the majority of surviving examples carved on stones, the earliest examples being on unshaped stones like that at Ardlair (around 200 examples survive). The meaning of the symbols is much debated, but they may represent personal names. The Ardlair symbol-incised stone provides evidence for the cultural links that existed between different parts of the British Isles in the early medieval period. While the symbol designs are unique to the Picts, their content provides evidence for how the art of the Picts relates to the Insular art style of this period, and the relationship to art in different media, such as metalwork. This provides important evidence for the relationship between the Picts and their early medieval neighbours.

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 of the ritual life of Bronze-Age communities in Aberdeenshire and their cultural links with other areas of the British Isles. It can also tell us about the nature of Pictish life in Aberdeenshire and their cultural links with other areas of Scotland and the British Isles. It is a rare instance of a symbol-incised stone still situated in its original location. This helps us to understand the relationship of such monuments to Pictish perceptions of the landscape, as well as to earlier prehistoric monuments.

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.