Description

The monument comprises a large burial cairn, probably of Bronze Age date (perhaps around 1500 BC). The cairn was first scheduled in 1973, but an inadequate area was included to protect all of the archaeological remains: the present re-scheduling rectifies this.

The cairn stands on a knoll with an open prospect to the S and W. Originally it was about 12m in diameter, but it has become spread over time to a diameter almost twice this. It still stands up to 3.5m tall. Eight large slabs, only two still standing upright, seem to mark a kerb around the S side of the core of the cairn.

Local tradition claims that a stone burial cist with a skull was found in the cairn many years ago and immediately covered up. A cisted burial would be consistent with the attribution of this cairn, on the grounds of its shape and location, to the Bronze Age rather than to the Neolithic period.

The area now to be scheduled is circular, 40m in diameter, to include the cairn and an area around it in which evidence relating to its construction and use may survive. The modern track impinging on the N arc of this circle is excluded from scheduling.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a fine example of a round burial cairn, which may contain largely undisturbed funerary remains. It has the potential to provide important information about prehistoric ritual architecture and funerary practices, and about contemporary land use and environmental conditions.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

The monument is recorded in the RCAHMS as NM 55 SE 1.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland