Description

The monument comprises the remains of a hut circle of late Bronze-Age or Iron-Age date, visible as a low heather- and gorse-covered annular bank. It lies on the NW flank of Elrick Hill at 170m above sea level.

The hut circle measures 6m in diameter within a stony bank up to 5m in thickness and up to 0.6m in height. The entrance is not visible; it may be hidden by the gorse growing on the S and W sides.

The area proposed for scheduling comprises a circle on plan, centred on the monument, 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 a later prehistoric roundhouse, with upstanding remains dating to the first or second millennium BC. The monument retains well-constructed drystone walls. Given the site's current use as a recreational park, 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, particularly so close to a major city. Much of the surrounding lowland landscape has been heavily improved and this monument's importance is enhanced by its fortuitous survival in an area of parkland. Together with other lowland roundhouses, such as the ones found at Kintore, 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 Aberdeen City in particular and Scotland in general.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the monument as NJ81SW93, Elrick Hill: hut-circle.

References:

Harding D I 1997, Aberdeen area (Aberdeen; Dyce; Newhills; Peterculter parishes): Assessment, Discovery Excav Scot 1997, 5.

RCAHMS 2007, In the Shadow of Bennachie: A Field Archaeology of Donside, Aberdeenshire, Edinburgh: Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland