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

  SM1254_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600004014)

Summary

Description

The monument is the remains of a chambered cairn, known as Cubbie Roo's Burden. It survives as a circular heather-covered mound approximately 15m in diameter and stands up to 1.3m high. This Orkney-Cromarty type of cairn has been investigated in antiquity, which has left a hollow in the centre some 7m across. Two orthostats visible in the hollow represent the remains of a burial chamber. Five orthostats were recorded by Henshall in 1959 and 1982, now presumably obscured by vegetation. She described them as: 'evidently two pairs of divisional slabs and the back-slab of a chamber which was entered from the S', but the outer part of the chamber and passage could not be traced. The monument is situated on a steep hillside 55m above sea level above the SE coast of Rousay, overlooking Wyre Sound. The monument was originally scheduled in 1935, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

The scheduled area is circular on plan, measuring 36m in diameter, centred on the centre of the monument. The scheduling includes 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. The scheduled area specifically excludes the above-ground elements of a hydro-pole.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance because it has the inherent potential to make a significant contribution to our understanding of the past, particularly the design and construction of burial monuments, and the nature of belief systems and burial practices in Neolithic Orkney. In Orkney, chambered cairns are an important component of the wider prehistoric landscape. They are often focal points and can inform our understanding of prehistoric land-use and social organisation, as well as burial practice. There is a particular concentration of chambered cairns in Rousay, with exceptionally high group value, which adds to the importance of Cubbie Roo's Burden. The loss of the monument would significantly diminish our future ability to appreciate and understand the placing of such monuments within the landscape and the meaning and importance of death and burial in prehistoric times.

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.