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

  SM12154_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600014189)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises a large single boulder bearing a group of prehistoric rock art motifs (cupmarks) of likely Bronze-Age date. It is located in a mature, fenced conifer woodland, surrounded by arable land at approximately 155m above sea level. The boulder sits on a gentle NE-facing slope, approximately 100m east of a low N-S running ridge on the N side of Strathdon.

The above-ground portion of the earthfast boulder is approximately 2.7m wide, 1.2m broad and 1m high. It bears as many as 19 individual cup carvings although only seven were seen during the field inspection, with the remainder covered by a thick blanket of moss. These seven were evenly spaced along the curved edge of a large depression in the boulder, on its SW side, facing a nearby recumbent stone circle (scheduled as Newcraig, stone circle 200m W of). Each of the cupmarks in the group is broadly of the same circular shape and size (at approximately 60mm diameter and 10-15mm deep). Previous researchers have measured the remaining cups at between 50mm and 80mm in diameter and between 10mm and 20mm deep, and describe them as placed on the boulder's top surface.

Prehistoric rock art motifs such as cupmarks, rings, and combinations of the two and other less common abstract designs are generally found on exposed rock surfaces or within the structure of Neolithic and Bronze-Age funerary and ritual monuments. Their accurate dating and purpose is still largely unknown and current interpretations suggest that their position in the landscape and inter-relationship with other contemporary monuments is significant. Archaeologists generally think that they had more of a symbolic meaning than simple decoration.

The area to be scheduled is circular on plan, 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

This substantial boulder bears a well-preserved set of single design rock-art motifs, in the form of cupmarks. The monument has good potential to help us understand more of the nature and distribution of rock-art sites, particularly where their survival has been skewed by the removal of boulders and rocks from more fertile, lower ground under regimes of agricultural improvement. The potential exists for remains associated with human activity at the site to survive as buried deposits beneath and around the monument, and this may help explain more about the history of its use and function.

Contextual characteristics

Cupmarked stones are part of wider tradition of prehistoric carving that appears in concentrations across Scotland from the Northern Isles to Dumfries and Galloway. Strathdon is no different in that it displays a dense group (almost 60) of these monuments and, as with other geographic concentrations, they tend to be placed in association with broadly contemporary monuments. Prehistoric people used a variety of stone mediums, from shallow outcrops to boulders, and the abstract carving of structural components to other contemporary monuments. Their position in the landscape is thought to be significant and in the case of New Craig it is positioned just downslope from the higher ground to the south-west and in full view of Bennachie, which are two common attributes of prehistoric monuments in this part of Strathdon. What signifies the importance of New Craig is not just its position in the landscape and its proximity to the nearby recumbent stone circle, 30m south-west of this stone, but the grouping and position of the individual carvings that seem to respect the microtopography of the boulder. Often recumbent stone circles incorporate similar motifs in their flankers or other component stones, but what is relatively uncommon is the adjacent presence of a carved boulder. Beside New Craig, only one other example exists in Strathdon. The monument has the potential to reveal more about the placement and setting of rock art within a landscape, as well as its function. As such, it can contribute to the understanding of regional identity and society in the prehistoric 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 the use and significance of rock art in prehistoric society and the role it plays with other contemporary ritual, funerary and domestic monuments in the wider landscape. The loss of this monument would impede our ability to understand and appreciate the prehistoric landscape of NE Scotland, as well as Scotland as a whole.

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.