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

  SM4576_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600010489)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises a pair of hut circles of the Bronze Age, with associated cultivation remains, and a cairn, which is apparently chambered. There are about 6 stone clearance mounds 0.6m high and up to 4m in diameter, spread within 50m of the hut circles. The cairn lies c. 150m to the SSE of the hut circles, on the edge of a steep drop to the Machrie water.

The cairn survives as a turf-covered stony mound. The arrangement of upright slabs in this area and the length and size of the forecourt make it certain that this is a Clyde type chambered tomb. An area measuring a maximum of 210m (NW-SE) and a maximum of 125m transversely is proposed for scheduling, to include all of these features and the likely further remains of associated activity which will survive beneath the topsoil in the area.

Statement of National Importance

The hut circles and field clearance cairns, while not being as well preserved as some others in the area, are, when considered with the adjacent groups (also proposed for scheduling) of national importance to our understanding of the organisation of the agricultural landscape in the Bronze Age. The study of these hut circles and their associated cultivation remains together with the adjacent sites would provide important information.

The chambered cairn is of national importance because of its proximity to the Machrie Moor ceremonial complex; while not being as well preserved as some Clyde cairns on Arran, the relationship of this monument to the complex is of national importance to our understanding of prehistoric ceremonial activity.

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.