Description

The monument comprises the remains of two hut circles of late Bronze-Age or Iron-Age date. They are visible as two low, grass-covered penannular stony banks lying on a gentle E-facing slope, at 170m above sea level.

The northernmost hut circle measures 6.9m in diameter, within a grass-grown bank 2.5m in thickness and 0.3m in height. There is an entrance on the E. The southernmost hut circle measures 7.7m in diameter within a grass-grown stony bank 2.5m in thickness and 0.3m in height. There is an entrance on the SE.

The area proposed for scheduling comprises two circles, each centred on a hut circle, to include the remains described and an area around within which evidence relating to its 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 two later prehistoric roundhouses, with upstanding remains dating to the first or second millennium BC. Given the excellent 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 that could provide data relating to the later prehistoric environment. The site 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. The monument commands extensive views to the south and east, to the sea. Much of the surrounding lowland landscape has been heavily improved and this monument's importance is enhanced by its fortuitous survival. Stray finds of a stone spindle whorl, four small arrowheads, a leaf-shaped spearhead, a quartzite axehead, a stone ball and arrowheads on the hill suggest that it may have been a focal point for prehistoric activity. 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 NJ82SE24, Tillygreig: Hut-Circles; Enclosure; Rig.

Photographs:

RCAHMS D 40497 Oblique aerial view centred on the remains of hut-circles, enclosure and rig, taken from the WSW.

References:

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

Source: Historic Environment Scotland