Scheduled Monument
Druim Dubh,stone circleSM5504
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
- 15/12/1992
- Supplementary Information Updated
- 26/06/2023
- Type
- Prehistoric ritual and funerary: stone circle or ring
- Local Authority
- Na h-Eileanan Siar
- Parish
- Lochs
- NGR
- NB 38251 30534
- Coordinates
- 138251, 930534
Description
The monument consists of an elliptical ring of fallen standing stones, partly peat-covered, standing on a low, flat-topped, hillock just N of the A859 public road.
The ring contains 16 stones, evenly spaced around the perimeter of an ellipse 28m by 21m overall. Nine of the stones are buried beneath peat while the seven visible stones were formerly peat-covered, and have been revealed by peat-cutting. There are remains of sockets with packing stones beside most of the stones, supporting the contention that they were at one time erect.
The area to be scheduled is a rectangle, 65m ENE-WSW by 60m transversely, bounded on the SE by the public road and on the SW by a track. This includes the stone setting and an area around in which traces of other prehistoric constructions may survive below the peat. The area is marked in red on the accompanying map.
Statement of National Importance
The monument is of national importance as one of only 10 megalithic rings in the Western Isles. Its complement of stones appears to be complete, although fallen, and their sockets and packing, together with whatever other features may lie concealed below the peat, offer an unusual opportunity to investigate the construction and subsequent dismantling of a slighted site which has lain undisturbed since the growth of peat in the area (perhaps around 1000 BC).
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.
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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