Documents

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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

  SM5718_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600011615)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises the extensive remains of a prehistoric settlement and also a prehistoric chambered burial cairn. The S part of the monument was scheduled in 1993, but subsequent field visits have revealed more, well-preserved, archaeological remains to the N. Hence this extension.

The monument is situated on a ESE-facing slope near the S end of Russa Ness. There are at least 3 house-sites, of a type normally assumed to be pre-Iron Age in date, and the remains of a probable Neolithic chambered burial cairn. These are surrounded by a pattern of irregular fields, defined by low stone walls and terraces. The area has been used for later cultivation, and a more regular pattern of fields overlies a small part of the hillside, perhaps associated with a small, ruined, rectangular enclosure.

Two of the prehistoric houses lie on the upper part of the formerly cultivated slope, at about 50m OD and 250m apart, while the third lies downslope from the more southerly of these. All 3 are oval on plan and have large upright stones set internally, marking subdivisions. The lower house is set into the slope, while the upper 2 stand proud. The probable chambered cairn, a tumbled mass of large boulders showing hints of a chamber and E-facing facade, is set higher still on the slope, but not quite on its crest.

The area to be scheduled consists of that scheduled in 1993 plus an extension of similar size to the N. It is bounded on the E by the high water mark of ordinary spring tides, and elsewhere by an irregular line not defined by any features on the ground. The area measures a maximum of 450m NNE-SSW by 250m transversely, as indicated in red on the accompanying map extract.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance as a well-preserved example of a prehistoric farming settlement, preserving evidence for domestic and agricultural activity and having the potential, through excavation, to provide more evidence relating to the date and sequence of construction and use of the different elements of the settlement, about domestic and agricultural economy and social organisation in the third and second millennia BC.

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.

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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.