Description

The monument comprises the remains of a hut circle of late Bronze-Age or Iron-Age date. It is visible as a low, grass-covered penannular stony bank. The monument lies on the summit of a small hill, at around 50m above sea level, around 1km north of the village of Ythanbank and around 435m E of the River Ythan.

The hut circle measures around 14m in diameter N-S by around 11m transversely. It has a stony bank up to 3m in thickness and 0.2m in height. There is a possible entrance on the south.

The area to be scheduled is circular on plan, centred on the monument, to include the remains described and an area around within which evidence relating to their construction and use may survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

Cultural Significance

The monument's cultural significance can be expressed as follows:

Intrinsic characteristics

The monument consists of the well-preserved remains of a later prehistoric roundhouse, with upstanding remains dating to the first or second millennium BC. Given the good preservation of the upstanding remains, it is likely that archaeologically significant deposits relating to construction, use and abandonment of the structures remain in place. In addition, it is likely that deposits sealed below the surface survive could provide data relating to the later prehistoric environment. The site therefore has considerable potential to enhance our understanding of later prehistoric roundhouses and the daily lives of the people who occupied them.

Contextual characteristics

The monument is a representative of a fairly common class of later prehistoric remains in Aberdeenshire but such monuments rarely survive in a lowland setting. Much of the surrounding lowland landscape has been heavily improved and this monument's importance is enhanced by its fortuitous survival. The hut-circle's importance is enhanced by its location, both in its position on the hilltop (rare for this type of site) and its proximity to other prehistoric remains, including Fedderat Cairn 200m to the south, some of which may be contemporaneous with it. Together with other lowland roundhouses, this hut circle can contribute to our understanding of the nature of later prehistoric settlement and its chronological, economic and social relationship to similar settlements in the uplands.

National Importance

The monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to make a significant addition to the understanding of the past, in particular Bronze- or Iron-Age society and the nature of later prehistoric domestic and agricultural practice. The good preservation and the survival of marked field characteristics enhance this potential. The loss of this example would significantly impede our ability to understand later prehistoric societies in Aberdeenshire in particular and Scotland in general.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the monument as NJ93NW 25, Wood of Schivas: hut circle and Aberdeenshire SMR as NJ93NW0025, Wood of Schivas: Cairns; hut-circles; Rig and Furrow; Stones.

Aerial photographs:

RCAHMS 1981, D 83033 PO, Wood of Schivas: hut-circle, cultivation remains, rig and enclosure.

RCAHMS 1981, D 83034 PO, Wood of Schivas: hut-circle, cultivation remains, rig and enclosure.

References:

RCAHMS 2007, IN THE SHADOW OF BENNACHIE: A FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY OF DONSIDE, ABERDEENSHIRE, Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland