Scheduled Monument
Knowe of Scorn, burnt moundSM1308
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
- 18/02/1937
- Last Date Amended
- 30/01/2003
- Type
- Prehistoric domestic and defensive: burnt mound
- Local Authority
- Orkney Islands
- Parish
- Birsay And Harray
- NGR
- HY 24984 23883
- Coordinates
- 324984, 1023883
Description
The monument comprises a grass-covered linear mound, composed of burnt stone and soil, with a central gulley dividing it into two parts. The mound was first scheduled in 1937 but an inadequate area was included to protect all of the archaeological remains: this re-scheduling rectifies this.
The mound is aligned roughly NNE-SSW and measures about 27m by 14m maximum, but tapers at the S end to about 11m wide. It stands up to 1.5m high at its N end (the nearest point to the shore of the Loch of Isbister) and reduces in height to about 0.75m at its southern terminal. The sides of the mound slope fairly steeply in general, but are less clearly defined towards the northern end. A central gulley, up to 0.5m deep, along the long axis of the mound, divides the mound into two parts and opens out into a roughly circular depression at its N end, within which several substantial stone blocks are exposed. Here and there, where the grass cover is broken, burnt stone is visible within a dark soil matrix.
Burnt mounds are generally seen as dating to the 2nd millennium BC, although both earlier and later examples are known. They comprise the waste products of heating water in a nearby stone-lined tank, with the water brought to boiling point by placing hot rocks in the tank. They are usually located close to a water source and consist of one or many heaps of heat-fractured or scorched rock, sometimes rich in charcoal, arranged around three sides of a water tank. On occasion the hearth upon which the stones were heated is also found. The mounds usually display evidence of repeated use over a long period. Two common interpretations of this type of site are that the trough was used either to cook food, or to provide steam for a sauna-like bath.
The area to be scheduled is a rectangle 50m N-S by 40m E-W, centred on the centre of the mound, as marked in red on the accompanying map. It includes the burnt mound and an area of ground around it in which evidence relating to its construction and use is likely to survive. The area is enclosed by a modern post-and-wire fence, which is excluded from the scheduling.
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.
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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.
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