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

  SM5915_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600011812)

Summary

Description

The monument is the remains of an unenclosed settlement and related features. The remains lie buried beneath the ploughsoil and are visible as cropmarks captured on oblique aerial photographs. Most of the remains are roundhouses of different types dating to between 1800 BC and AD 400, but there is also evidence for rectangular structures which are probably later in date (early historic or medieval), a possible square barrow which is probably an early historic funerary monument; and parts of several other possible enclosures of unknown date.

Two well-defined disc-shaped cropmarks, one to the SE of the site, the other to the NW, indicate roundhouses with sunken floors. There is also a crescent-shaped cropmark between the two indicating a ring-ditch roundhouse with a partially sunken floor or erosional hollow on the E side of the footprint. These features measure 9m-10m in diameter. Some 12m W of the SE roundhouse is a sub-circular ring-groove measuring about 17m by 14m, indicating another roundhouse of different type. Immediately E of the ring-groove is a rectilinear enclosure defined by a ditch about 1m wide enclosing an area measuring some 19m N-S by 17m E-W; this feature probably represents a square barrow. Less well-defined disc-shaped marks suggest the positions of a further three roundhouses with sunken floors, each measuring up to 15m in diameter. Linear cropmarks suggest the position of a rectangular structure at least 15m long and 4m wide towards the S of the site, and a second such feature at least 18m long and 8m wide towards the N of the site. Other linear cropmarks may represent parts of enclosures. The monument lies between 20m and 25m OD, at the E end of a ridge of higher ground that rises above the Keilor Burn to the S. The site overlooks the coast, about 500m to the E.

The scheduled area is irregular on plan to include the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. On the SW side the scheduled area extends up to but excludes a post-and-wire fence. The monument was first scheduled in 1994, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to make a significant addition to knowledge and understanding of rural settlement in Scotland. It is a rare example of a site that preserves evidence for both roundhouses and rectangular structures and offers high potential to compare settlement form and character over a long time period. The monument's importance is enhanced by its association with the wider archaeological landscape of unenclosed settlements and enclosures in the lower Lunan Valley. This landscape forms an important concentration of evidence for social and economic change in later prehistoric and medieval Scotland. Our understanding of the distribution and character of later prehistoric settlements would be diminished if this monument was to be lost or damaged.

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.