Description

The monument comprises a roughly circular enclosure of prehistoric date, visible on oblique aerial photographs as cropmarks in an area of improved pasture. It is situated on a gentle N-facing slope on the S side of Strath Dee, at an altitude of 36m above sea level.

The enclosure is defined by a penannular palisade slot, measuring about 35m in diameter. Maculae (sub-circular features) showing in cropmarks probably indicate the remains of pits or postholes.

The area to be scheduled is circular on plan, to include the remains described and an area around them 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

As a plough-truncated monument visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs, the enclosure is a good example of an enclosed settlement site, likely to be late 1st millennium BC or early 1st millennium AD in date, surviving in an area of agricultural activity. Although the enclosure has been cultivated, evidence relating to domestic structures may be preserved as buried deposits inside the enclosure. It is likely that a bank would have lain inside the ditch, and potential exists for a buried land surface to be preserved both beneath the ploughed-out remains of the bank and within the ditch, providing evidence of the environment within which the enclosure was built. The ditch is likely to contain archaeological deposits that can tell us about the economy of the inhabitants of the enclosure, the date at which the enclosure was constructed, used and abandoned, and the environment in which the enclosure was built.

Contextual characteristics

The monument commands views along Strath Dee. It has the capacity to contribute towards a better understanding of enclosed settlements. Comparing and contrasting the enclosure to other examples both nearby and within the wider area can enable an understanding of how such sites are positioned within the landscape, as well as provide enhanced contexts for the Iron-Age economy and structure of society. Information gained from the preservation and study of this site can be used to gain an insight into the wider knowledge of Iron-Age enclosed settlement across Scotland.

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, a type of monument that characterises the wider Iron-Age domestic landscape. Domestic remains and artefacts from settlements have the potential to tell us not only about wider prehistoric society, but also its architecture, how people lived, where they came from and who they had contacts with. Archaeological deposits preserved within the ditch, palisade slot and interior of the monument may provide information about what the contemporary environment looked like and how it was being managed by the prehistoric farmers who lived here. Its loss would impede our ability to understand the placing of such monuments (particularly those on the flanks of hills and along the sides of valleys) within the landscape in Strathdon, Strath Dee and across Scotland, as well as our knowledge of Iron-Age social structure, economy, and building practices.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NO89NE38, Millbank: enclosure; cropmarks. Aberdeenshire Council SMR records the monument as NJ89NE0040, Millbank: Cropmarks; Enclosures; Features.

References:

Greig M 1994, 'Sites identified while checking aerial photographs and maps held by GRC, or as the result of an aerial reconnaissance programme', DISCOVERY EXCAV SCOT 1994, 29.

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

Source: Historic Environment Scotland