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

  SM3572_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600009630)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises the remains of a prehistoric house. The remains consist of a roughly circular mound with a pronounced hollow in the centre. The house is approximately 12m N-S by 8.5m transversely, and consists of low footings of turf and stone. Small sections of stone facing are visible on the northern edge of the mound. The house is believed to be late Neolithic or Bronze Age in date, around 3000 to 1000 BC. It is located 30m from the shore at around 10m above sea level and lies on semi-improved grassland overlooking Mangaster Voe to the north. The monument was originally scheduled in 1974 but the area was inadequate and the documentation does not meet modern standards: the present rescheduling rectifies this.

The area to be scheduled is circular on plan, 30m in diameter, to include the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment 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 prehistoric house survives in good condition. The overall form of the house is visible and sections of stone wall-facing protrude through the turf in places. The site is likely to contain important buried deposits, including artefacts, ecofacts and other environmental evidence.

Examination of the building foundations can give us detailed information about the form and construction of prehistoric houses, while buried features within the building interior can contribute to our understanding of how houses were used and how this might change over time. Buried artefacts and ecofacts and buried soils can contribute to our understanding of how people lived and worked, and improve our understanding of prehistoric trade and exchange and the nature of the agricultural economy. Archaeological investigation at similar sites has yielded high quality artefactual and environmental material, which can help us to build up a much fuller picture of prehistoric domestic life.

Contextual characteristics

This is one of a number of broadly similar prehistoric houses that characterise early settlement and the development of agriculture in the third to second millennium BC in Shetland. It is part of a relatively rare and geographically restricted group, which gives a more balanced view of prehistoric life when compared with the more common and widespread burial and ceremonial monuments of the later Neolithic elsewhere in Scotland.

The house lies in close proximity to other broadly contemporary monuments: another prehistoric house lies 50m to the northeast, and a group of four prehistoric houses is situated 360m to the southeast. This monument is an important element of a much wider relict landscape and it testifies to early human efforts to exploit the land and natural resources close to the shoreline at Mangaster Voe for agricultural production. There can be an impressive time-depth to these early houses, as may well be the case here, which can tell us much about change and continuity over long periods. Comparison of this site with the other prehistoric domestic remains in the area would help us to develop a much better understanding of prehistoric domestic life and landuse.

National Importance

This 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 nature of prehistoric settlement, agriculture and landuse in Shetland. It has the potential to improve our understanding of the distribution of settlement, the structural techniques used to build houses and changes in the nature of settlement over time. There is also excellent potential to study how the site fitted into a landscape that is rich in prehistoric remains. The loss of this monument would impede our ability to understand the nature of prehistoric domestic architecture and settlement, both in Shetland and Scotland.

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.