Scheduled Monument
Erskine's Knap,burial mound 600m SE of ScotstonSM5168
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
- 21/10/1991
- Supplementary Information Updated
- 27/08/2024
- Type
- Prehistoric ritual and funerary: barrow
- Local Authority
- Aberdeenshire
- Parish
- Laurencekirk
- NGR
- NO 73799 73455
- Coordinates
- 373799, 773455
Description
The monument is a burial mound of the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age situated in arable land. It measures 40m in diameter and 1.8m in height. Excavation of comparable mounds in Tayside has shown that they can be between 3700 and 5000 years old and can have complex and long histories of use. At least one burial will lie under the mound
and others will probably have been cut into the mound during and after its construction.
The mound will also cover a contemporary land surface, on which may be preserved traces of prehistoric cultivation. The area to be scheduled measures 60m in diameter centred on the mound, to include the mound and an area around in which a quarry ditch and other features associated with it may survive, as marked on the attached map in red.
Statement of National Importance
The monument is of national importance as a well preserved substantial burial mound which has the potential to enhance considerably our understanding of prehistoric burial and ceremonial practices. The mound is of particular importance because few of this size survive in low lying situations in this area. The extensive contemporary ground surface sealed beneath the mound could increase our knowledge of prehistoric land use in lowland east 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.
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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