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

  SM5913_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600011810)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises the remains of a varied group of features: three curved ditches, several ring ditches, two rectilinear enclosures and a variety of other features including pits and gullies, representing the remains of settlements and barrows of different date. Radiocarbon dating of samples from pits indicates use of the site in the Bronze Age (c 2500-800 BC) and Iron Age (c 800 BC-AD 400). While most of the features probably derive from these periods, the rectilinear enclosures may be medieval or post-medieval in date. The remains lie buried beneath the ploughsoil and are visible as cropmarks captured on oblique aerial photographs. The monument lies at about 20m OD, occupying a level area of relatively high ground some 600m inland from the coast.

The two rectilinear enclosures define areas measuring 24m x 24m and 44m x 38m respectively. Outside the enclosures there are at least five ring ditches or penannular ditches, ranging from about 6m to 10m in diameter. Some are interpreted as small barrows; others as the remains of roundhouses. In addition, three curvilinear features measure between 14m and 24m across. One has been partly excavated and is 0.7m deep with near vertical sides and a flat base, tapering in width from 2.2m to 0.5m. Excavation has also indicated that a variety of pits and gullies lie in the vicinity of this feature, including a pit circle some 9m in diameter which surrounds a wide, shallow pit.

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. The monument was first scheduled in 1994, but the documents 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 and burial in Scotland. The survival of rectilinear enclosures, barrows and potential houses in close proximity is rare. It offers high potential to compare settlement form and character over a long time period, and to examine the relationship between settlement and funerary remains. The monument's importance is enhanced by its association with the wider, very rich archaeological landscape of enclosures, unenclosed settlements and barrows 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 prehistoric and later settlements and burials 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.