Documents

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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

  Legal Documents for Cairns, 430m S of Ross Hill, Kilcoy (SM3123)

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600038936)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises two prehistoric burial cairns surviving as prominent grass covered stoney mounds. They are sited about 60m apart in an area of cultivated land, at around 120m above sea level. 

The cairns are likely to date to the Neolithic to Bronze Age (2,500 BC – 800 BC). The first is a grass covered mound of stones approximately 14m by 12m and 4m high. Through the centre of the cairn is the remains of an excavation trench from the 1960s. This excavation identified a cist measuring 2.4m by 0.6m and roofed by three large slabs, within the cairn. The second cairn is located 60m to the south-southeast and measures approximately 33m north-northwest – south-southeast by 29m by 1.5m high. In the early 20th century, a short cist was discovered in the centre of this cairn.  

The scheduled area is circular irregular. It includes the remains described above and an area around within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Statement of National Importance

The monument contributes significantly to our understanding and appreciation of the past as two cairns dating from the Neolithic (4,100 BC – 2,500 BC) to Bronze Age (2,500 BC – 800 BC). The monument retains structural and physical remains in the form of two cairns with cists comprised of large stone slabs and cairn material in the form of cobble sized stones.  Artefacts recovered from the first cairn (Canmore ID 12836) included burnt bone, possibly the remains of a cremation, found in the cist and saddle quern used as building material. Artefacts recovered from the cist of the second cairn (Canmore ID 12840) included pottery, charred wood and bone fragments. There is the potential for further buried archaeological structures, deposits, and artefacts to survive. These can tell us about prehistoric life, in particular the development of ritual and funerary practices, diet, technology and the migration of ancient populations. 

Both cairns are particularly representative examples of their type, though the first cairn is notable as having a large cist. The cairns continue to be recognisable features in the landscape, even more so for their close proximity to one another. The cairns are part of a group of at least 4 others in the immediate area the closest being Carn Glas, chambered cairn, 275m SSE of Ross Hill (SM3213; 200m north-northeast). There is the potential for these monuments to be studied together in order to better understand their distribution, development overtime, relation to their wider landscape setting and prehistoric land use.

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.

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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.