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Latitude: 56.4714 / 56°28'17"N
Longitude: -3.4361 / 3°26'10"W
OS Eastings: 311623
OS Northings: 731957
OS Grid: NO116319
Mapcode National: GBR V6.M9MZ
Mapcode Global: WH6PZ.6L0S
Entry Name: Berryhill, mortuary enclosures and pit-alignment 150m N of
Scheduled Date: 23 December 1997
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Source ID: SM7184
Schedule Class: Cultural
Category: Prehistoric ritual and funerary: enclosure (ritual or funerary)
Location: St Martins
County: Perth and Kinross
Electoral Ward: Strathmore
Traditional County: Perthshire
The monument comprises two mortuary enclosures and a pit-alignment of prehistoric date, visible as cropmarks on oblique aerial photographs.
The monument lies in arable farmland at around 40m OD. It comprises two sub-rectangular ditched enclosures with rounded ends. The clearer of the two on the aerial photographs measures some 40m E-W by 10m internally, within a ditch up to 2m broad. It appears to have had two entrances, both along its S side, and there are indications of two large pits within the interior, both placed along the central axis towards the E and W ends.
The second enclosure lies some 30m to the E and is much less clear. It measures approximately 7m wide but its length cannot be determined. Both enclosures appear to represent the remains of Neolithic mortuary structures - timber buildings, probably unroofed, used in rites associated with the disposal of the dead.
About 80m to the S of the enclosures is a curving pit-alignment of at least twenty-five pits. The pits measure up to 4m in diameter, and run for a distance of some 150m, aligned approximately ENE-WSW. The function of such pit alignments is obscure but they often occur in proximity to Neolithic ritual monuments, and this particular example is likely to be associated with the mortuary enclosures.
The area proposed for scheduling comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related deposits may be expected to be found. It is irregular with maximum dimensions of 260m E-W by 180m, as marked in red on the accompanying map extract.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
The monument is of national importance because of its potential to contribute to our understanding of prehistoric funerary and ritual practices. Its importance is increased by the variety and complexity of its features and by its proximity to other monuments of potentially contemporary date.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Bibliography
RCAHMS records the monument as NO 13 SW 48, 64, 75.
Aerial Photographs used:
RCAHMS (1984) A29252 NO13SW48, 64.
RCAHMS (1989) B22642 NO13SW48, 64.
RCAHMS (1989) B22818 NO13SW48, 64.
RCAHMS (1989) A29236/TR NO13SW48, 64.
RCAHMS (1989) A30291/TR NO13SW48.
RCAHMS (1991) B22815/TR NO13SW48.
RCAHMS (1992) B79391 NO13SW48, 64, 75, 84, 85.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
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