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

  SM12170_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600014193)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises a mound likely to be a burial cairn dating to the Bronze Age. It survives as a low circular earthwork covered by rough vegetation and with some mature deciduous trees planted on it, surrounded by arable cultivation. These types of cairns were built and used as individual or group burial monuments and generally contained one or more central burials. It is located on flat, fertile land bounded by a low ridge 1km to its north and the River Urie, 5km to its south.

The cairn is roughly circular in shape, 20m in diameter and approximately 0.5m high. The cairn is enclosed by a ruined circular drystone wall, a remnant of the site's use as a tree plantation in the modern period.

The area to be scheduled is circular on plan, centred on the mound, 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 cultural significance can be expressed as follows:

Intrinsic characteristics

The monument is well preserved despite modern impacts from tree roots, dumping of stones and wood and the installation of cattle feeding equipment. The monument retains much of its structural detail (including the underlying stone cover and earthen mound) and the centre appears to be undisturbed suggesting that any burials here are potentially still preserved in situ. The mound is likely to seal a buried land surface and this could provide evidence of the environment during the Bronze Age when the monument was constructed and used. Overall, it has the potential to further our understanding of Bronze-Age funerary practice, as well as inform our knowledge of the structural features of this type of cairn.

Contextual characteristics

This monument belongs to a diverse group of over 150 surviving Bronze-Age burial cairns in the Strathdon area. It is part of a much larger contemporary burial tradition that covers much of Scotland. These monuments share similar characteristics in their construction, position and use. In this part of Strathdon, Cat Cairn is an important example of a burial monument that has survived the effects of cultivation and lowland agricultural expansion. It has a wider significance because of its more unusual position in the landscape, its likely association with other burial monuments and its clear views to Bennachie to the south-south-west. Spatial analysis of this and similar burial monuments can further our understanding of funerary site location, the structure of society and the Bronze-Age economy.

National Importance

This monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to contribute to an understanding of the past, in particular Bronze-Age burial architecture and practice. It is part of the evidence for the wider prehistoric settlement of Strathdon and can tell us much about how the people who lived here during the Bronze Age dealt with and commemorated their dead. The preservation of a buried land surface beneath the cairn can help us understand more about the surrounding environment when the cairn was being built. 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.