Description

The monument comprises the remains of two major enclosures of the neolithic and Early Bronze Age and further enclosures and other features probably of the same date, all visible as cropmarks on arable land at about 40m OD.

The monument comprises the following main features.

1. A massive roughly circular enclosure measuring between 120m and 90m across, defined by a discontinuous ditch. At its centre there are traces of a roughly rectangular structure which may be the remains of a ploughed out burial mound. The irregular line of the ditch, and the discovery of flint tools in the topsoil suggest a Neolithic date. The character of the enclosure is comparable with the Neolithic 'causewayed camps' of midland and southern England.

2. A short distance to the north-east lies another circular enclosure c. 31m in diameter, similar in character to, but smaller than the larger enclosure.

3. To the south-west are the remains of another very large sub-circular enclosure c. 170m in diameter, defined in this case by pits. There is an entrance feature formed by two parallel lines of pits at the NE. Excavation of a very similar enclosure, with an identical entrance feature, at Meldon Bridge in Peeblesshire demonstrated that it was a ceremonial and burial site of the late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age and that the pits had held massive oak posts.

4. Visible on the aerial photographs around and between the major enclosures are numerous ring-ditches (the remains of small ceremonial enclosures or ploughed-down round burial mounds), at least one square barrow (a type of burial feature dated to the Iron Age) and many pits (which excavation on other sites has shown may contain deposits of pottery and stone tools).

The area to be scheduled measures about 615m from its southwesternmost point to its northernmost point, and about 475m from its northwesternmost point to its southeasternmost. The area includes the features visible as cropmarks and an area around and between them in which other features associated with the construction and use of the monument are likely to survive, as marked in red on the attached map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a complex of ceremonial and burial sites of the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age periods, which has the potential to enhance very considerably our understanding of ceremonial activity and social organisation in this period. The monument is of particular importance because in this one location are combined several different site-types, not otherwise found together, the co-occurrence of the large ditched enclosure and the pit-defined enclosure is particularly noteworthy.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NO 01 NW 21, 22, 33, 36, 39, 40, and 55.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland