Statement of National Importance
The national importance of the monument is demonstrated in the following way(s) (see Designations Policy and Selection Guidance, Annex 1, para 17):
a. The monument is of national importance because it makes a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the past, or has the potential to do so as two prehistoric standing stones dating to the Neolithic (4100 BC – 2,500 BC) or Bronze Age (2500 BC – 800 BC).
b. The monument retains structural, architectural, decorative or other physical attributes which make a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the past, and it appears to be undisturbed in its original location.
d. The monument is a particularly good example of a pair of prehistoric standing stone dating to the Neolithic (4100 BC – 2,500 BC) or Bronze Age (2500 BC – 800 BC) and is therefore an important representative of this monument type.
e. The monument has research potential which could significantly contribute to our understanding or appreciation of the past, in particular the stone has the potential to tell us about prehistoric ritual and funerary activity. The area around each stone may contain artefacts, environmental materials, human remains and material for radiocarbon dating. The stones can be studied in isolation or as part of the wider group of standing stones on Jura to help us understand why particular stones were selected and erected.
f. The monument makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the prehistoric landscape by its survival as part of a wider network of contemporary monuments. It is likely to have been placed deliberately in this location to take advantage of views, natural routes and spatial connections with these other monuments. There is the potential to study the position of the stone and its significance as part of the wider prehistoric coastal landscapes and, as one of many similar, contemporary sites.
Assessment of Cultural Significance
This statement of national importance has been informed by the following assessment of cultural significance:
Intrinsic characteristics (how the remains of a site or place contribute to our knowledge of the past)
The monument comprises two prehistoric standing stones dating from the Neolithic (4100 BC – 2500 BC) or Bronze Age (2500 BC – 800 BC). They were first mapped as prehistoric standing stones in 1878 (Ordnance Survey, Six-Inch, First Edition Argyllshire, Sheet CLXXXVIII). Their character is consistent with other similar monuments identified as prehistoric standing stones.
Standing stones can be found as single examples, pairs and larger groups or part of larger monuments such as stone circles, settings or rows. They are thought to have had religious or ritual significance and possibly with connections to astronomical events or alignments. This example may also have had a function as some form of navigation or boundary marker in the contemporary prehistoric landscape.
There is no evidence that either stone has been relocated or disturbed and as such, there is good potential for the survival of buried deposits such as artefacts, environmental materials and human remains from its erection and use in ceremonial, ritual, burial and commemorative activities. Excavations at similar sites have revealed much about the underlying construction and use of these single standing stones, for example buried at the base of a similar standing stone in Angus (Carlinwell, standing stone 120m ENE of Mayfield, scheduled monument SM4315) there were cremation urns containing burnt bone (radiocarbon dated to 1916–1749 BC (Johnson 2012)).
Contextual characteristics (how a site or place relates to its surroundings and/or to our existing knowledge of the past)
The western stone sits on the edge of historic peat cutting and overlooks The Small Isles, in particular Eilean Bhride. Hardwicke Rideout notes that "Both stones are situated in a some-what boggy area used at one time as a turbary.” (1932, 147). This is confirmed by the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map which depicts peat cutting immediately to the south of the western stone and approximately 50m to the south of the eastern stone. The eastern stone sits within a small area of woodland.
The monument is part of a wider island group of up to 12 standing stones along the south and east coastlines of Jura, including a nearby example at Ardfernal around a kilometre to the northeast (scheduled monument SM4739) (NRHE ID 38262). Other examples include a scheduled example at Tarbert (scheduled monument SM4738) (NRHE ID 38656) and others at Strone (NRHE ID 38246), Sannaig (NRHE ID 38247) and Carragh A' Ghlinne (NRHE ID 38233). Around the latter are three similar fallen stones and together they may have originally been part of a stone setting.
This site is an important contributor to a small number of other sites on Jura which indicate activity in the Neolithic to Bronze Age such as the occupation site at Glenbatrick (NRHE ID 38261) dated to 2950 BC - 3860 BC and a chambered cairn (Jura, Cladh Chlainn Iain (NRHE 38244) which is a ritual funerary monument.
The national record of the historic environment (NRHE) records over 3500 sites of prehistoric standing stones across Scotland with 570 in Argyll and Bute. These include single stones and stones which form part of larger monuments such as stone circles. The selection, location and orientation of single prehistoric standing stones are thought to have been influenced by natural features in the landscape as well as other contemporary monuments such as other standing stones, stone circles, and burial monuments. There is the potential to study these stones in relation to the surrounding landscape as well as other standing stones in Jura and Scotland more widely, to better understand the chosen location and its use, meaning and significance to prehistoric communities.
The monument could significantly contribute to our understanding or appreciation of the past and can be studied in isolation or as part of the wider group of standing stones on Jura, the surrounding islands or Scotland more broadly. There is the potential to study the stones in relation to natural landscape features such as The Small Isles and compare their location and orientation with other broadly contemporary sites.
Associative characteristics (how a site or place relates to people, events, and/or historic and social movements)
At the turn of the 18th century, writer and cartographer Martin Martin describes the folklore associated with the origins of the island's name and two stones at 'Knock-Cronm' - Knockrome - shared with him by Jura inhabitants. They are purported to mark the graves of two Danish brothers 'Dih and 'Rah' said to have fought and killed one another in the village of 'Knock-Cronm' "where there are two stones erected of 7 feet high each, and under them, they say, there are urns, with the ashes of the two brothers;the distance between them is about 60 yards” (Martin 1703, 231).
Although close to modern Knockrome, the distances and dimensions described do not match those of the stones that comprise the monument and are likely to be approximations. The origins of the story are not known, and it is unclear if it is connected to these specific stones or to others in the area that may not have survived to the present day. The story contributes to the wider cultural significance and folklore associated with standing stones on Jura. However, because the stones described cannot be securely identified with the surviving monument, the story does not contribute to its national importance as a pair of prehistoric standing stones.