Scheduled Monument
White Caterthun,houses,cairns and fields 800m W ofSM4571
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
- 10/11/1988
- Type
- Prehistoric domestic and defensive: field clearance cairn, cairnfield; field or field system; house
- Local Authority
- Angus
- Parish
- Menmuir
- NGR
- NO 53938 65779
- Coordinates
- 353938, 765779
Description
The monument is a farmstead and field system of the later Bronze Age or Iron Age; it comprises 3 ring-ditch houses, small cairns and a system of rectangular fields defined by slight turf banks. Two houses are up to 15m in diameter over ditches up to 2m wide and the third is up to 15m in diameter with a ditch up to 3m wide. The ditches, unlike those of Douglasmuir-type houses, are fairly uniform in depth.
The cairns cover a wide area around the houses. To the south and south east on average the slope is a widespread pattern of strips and rectangular plots, the latter commonly about 30m x 20m, defined by slight banks visible only in good light. An area measuring up to 630m (N-S) by up to 510m transversely is proposed for scheduling.
Statement of National Importance
The field system is remarkably complete. It and the houses are just below the White Caterthun fort. They are of national importance as including an unusually well preserved system of rectangular prehistoric fields, and because of the proximity of the fields, the well preserved houses and the White Caterthun fort. The houses and fields together are nationally important to the theme of social and economic organisation in the Iron Age. Particularly when taken with Hill of Menmuir they are of national importance to studies of agriculture in E Scotland.
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.
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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).
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