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

  SM6056_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600011948)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises the remains of a later prehistoric settlement dating to between 1800 BC and AD 400 and a probable round barrow built before 700 BC. The remains lie buried beneath the ploughsoil and are visible as cropmarks captured on oblique aerial photographs. The monument lies around 20m above sea level overlooking the Lunan Water to the N.

A dark crescent-shaped cropmark indicates the position of a roundhouse 17m in diameter with a partly sunken floor. A dark sub-circular cropmark 20m to the NW indicates a probable second roundhouse at least 10m in diameter. To the E, a narrow gully about 0.8m wide encloses a circular area 16m in diameter with a central pit. The pit and lack of evidence for an entrance suggest that this is a barrow with an intact central burial. The monument lies on the NW fringe of the dense landscape of prehistoric settlement known around the modern farms of Ironshill and Newbarns.

The scheduled area is irregular on plan as shown in red on the accompanying map. It 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. On the W side, the scheduled area extends up to but excludes a post-and-wire fence. The monument was first scheduled in 1994, but the documentation 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 add to our understanding of prehistoric house construction and domestic organisation and because of its association with the wider landscape of prehistoric settlement in this part of the Lunan Valley. It is part of a rare and significant concentration of settlement that provides rich evidence for social and economic change in eastern Scotland in the first millennia BC and AD. The survival of roundhouses in close proximity to a probable barrow is rare and the roundhouses have partly sunken floors, indicating high potential for excellent preservation of artefacts and environmental evidence. Our understanding of the chronology, character and distribution of later prehistoric settlement 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.