Description

The monument comprises a fort, round and square barrows, an unenclosed settlement and souterrains of prehistoric date, all visible as cropmarks on oblique aerial photographs.

The monument lies in arable farmland at the edge of a river terrace, at around 50m OD. The N part of the site is occupied by the remains of a fort, the defences of which are visible on aerial photographs as three arcs of ditch and two palisade (or timber stockade) trenches, cutting off an area of land on the edge of the steep-sided river terrace. The defences enclose an area of around 45m E-W by 25m, and appear to represent several distinct phases of enclosure.

S of the fort are numerous circular enclosures, between 8m and 30m in diameter. While some appear to represent palisaded enclosures, others represent the remains of former timber roundhouses. Also present are at least two souterrains, one just outside the fort's outer ditch, the other intersecting its inner ditch, measuring about 10m and about 15m in length respectively. These semi-subterranean, passage-like structures are generally thought to have been used for storage in later prehistory.

Also present, distributed among the settlement remains, are several square and round barrows, representing burial monuments of later prehistoric or Pictish date.

The area proposed for scheduling comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related material may be expected to be found. It is irregular with maximum dimensions of 220m between its N and S-most points, and 230m between its E and W-most points, as marked in red on the accompanying map extract.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to contribute to our understanding of both prehistoric settlement and economy, and prehistoric funerary and ritual practices. Its importance is increased by its complexity, with inter-cutting elements and therefore considerable time-depth, and by its close proximity to other monuments of potentially contemporary date.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NO 14 SE 29, 35, 39

Aerial Photographs used:

RCAHMS (1977) PT/5773 NO14SE29, 35.

RCAHMS (1989) PT/5993 NO14SE29, 34, 35, 39.

RCAHMS (1990) B44141 NO14SE29, 35, 39.

RCAHMS (1992) B79667 NO14SE29, 34, 35, 39, 79, 98.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland