Description

The monument comprises a round barrow cemetery dating to the Bronze Age (2,500 BC – 800 BC) or Early Medieval Period (AD 400 – 1000), visible as cropmarks on oblique aerial photographs. The cemetery consists of the remains of four round barrows orientated west to east and spread over a distance of 47m. The barrows are visible in the aerial photographs as lighter, circular features between approximately 6m and 9m in diameter. The monument lies in arable farmland at around 25m above sea level.

The round barrows are between approximately 6m and 9m in diameter and are visible in the aerial photographs as lighter, circular features representing the ditch, the upcast from which would have been used to created the mound. All four have breaks in their ditches in the south east quadrant but the second most easterly barrow has multiple breaks. The easternmost barrow has an off centre oval pit, which is likely to be a grave cut. 

 

The scheduled area is rectangular, measuring 75m west-southwest by east-northeast by 45m north-northwest by south-southeast. It includes the remains described above and an area around within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. 

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The national importance of the monument is demonstrated in the following way(s) (see Designations Policy and Selection Guidance, Annex 1, para 17):

a.  The monument is of national importance because it makes a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the past, or has the potential to do so as a barrow cemetery, comprising four barrows dating to the Bronze Age (2,500 BC – 800 BC) or Early Medieval Period (AD 400 – 1000).

b.   The monument retains structural, architectural, decorative or other physical attributes which make a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the past. In particular there is the potential for the survival of archaeological features and with well stratified deposits, artefacts, environmental and human remains.

 d.   The monument is a particularly good example of a barrow cemetery and is therefore an important representative of this monument type. 

 e.   The monument has research potential which could significantly contribute to our understanding or appreciation of the past. Study of the monument can tell us about ritual and burial practices. The features and their relationship to along with their form and construction techniques can be examined to better understanding of the development sequence of this site.

This statement of national importance has been informed by the following assessment of cultural significance:

Intrinsic characteristics (how the remains of a site or place contribute to our knowledge of the past)

This monument has been recorded as cropmarks on aerial photographs and survives as buried deposits below the ploughsoil. The monument comprises a round barrow cemetery likely dating to the Bronze Age (2,500 BC – 800 BC) to Early Medieval Period (AD 400 – 1000). The round barrows show in aerial photographs as light, roughly circular features with breaks to the southeast.

A barrow is a mound of earth, sometimes enclosed by a ditch, which is usually constructed over a burial or multiple burials. These burials can include intact skeletal remains - known as inhumations (burials) - or cremations. Round barrows have been dated to the Bronze Age (2,500 BC – 800 BC), Iron Age (800 BC – AD 400) and Early Medieval period (AD 400 – 1000), though some rarer examples dating to the Neolithic (4,100 BC – 2,500 BC) are also known.

Barrow cemeteries provide the opportunity to gain a more detailed understanding of how barrows developed over time. There is the potential for the survival of human remains and artefacts. Monuments often contain features that are not visible in aerial photographs. There is therefore potential for the survival of archaeological features and well stratified layers of deposits and environmental remains such as charcoal or pollen which can provide material for radiocarbon dating. Study of the monument has the potential to tell us about ritual and burial practices. There is the potential study the features and their relationship to each other along with comparing their form and construction techniques to better understanding of the development sequence of this site.

Contextual characteristics (how a site or place relates to its surroundings and/or to our existing knowledge of the past)

The monument is located on an area of flat ground at approximately 25m above sea level. It is located between the Chlenry Burn on the east and Cults Loch to the southwest. Round barrows can be found across Scotland and can occur in isolation, as part of a localised concentration or as part of a barrow cemetery. They contribute to  a wider group of earthen burial monuments in Scotland, with the highest number recorded in the Orkney Islands. There are approximately 57 known barrow sites in Dumfries and Galloway, 24 of which have multiple barrows and can include both square and round barrows. 

Many barrows are now only identifiable in the cropmark record through their distinctive ditches and, at times, visible graves cuts and cremation pits. Barrows can also be associated with unenclosed graves such as cist burials as at the monument called Barrows, enclosures and cist burials, 810m NE of Cults, which is located 690m to the southeast (scheduled monument SM7493).

These funerary monuments are set in a landscape with a broad range of prehistoric settlements, for example Enclosed settlement, 430m SSW of Chlenry Cottages (scheduled monument SM7494; 260m southwest); Cults Loch, crannog 770m ESE of Castle Kennedy House (scheduled monument SM7502; 490m southwest) and Cults Loch (Canmore ID 276231; 477m west-southwest). 

These monuments can be studied together to better understand the development of this landscape over time and any interrelationships that may have existed between them. The monument can also be compared to other barrow cemeteries to better understand this monument type as a whole and within the wider context of ritual and funerary practices in prehistoric to Early Medieval Scotland.

Associative characteristics (how a site or place relates to people, events, and/or historic and social movements)

There are no known associative characteristics that contribute to the site's national importance.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

Historic Environment Scotland http://www.canmore.org.uk reference number CANMORE ID 61703 (accessed on 25/05/2023).

Local Authority HER/SMR Reference MDG1758 (accessed on 25/05/2023).

Neolithic Scotland: ScARF Panel Report (2012) Available at https://scarf.scot/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2021/06/ScARF-Neolithic-June-2012-v2b.pdf (accessed on 25/05/2023).

Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Scotland: ScARF Panel Report (2012) Available at https://scarf.scot/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2015/12/ScARF%‌20Bronze%20Age%‌20Sept%202012.pdf (accessed on 25/05/2023).

Perth and Kinross Archaeological Research Framework ( ). Available at https://scarf.scot/regional/perth-and-kinross-archaeological-research-framework-2/early-medieval/6-7-religion-and-ritual/6-7-4-burials/ (accessed on 25/05/2023).

Canmore

https://canmore.org.uk/site/61703/

Source: Historic Environment Scotland