Description

The monument comprises the remains of three hut circles, visible as upstanding walls located on the highest point of a low ridge. The hut circles are likely to be the remains of Late Bronze Age or Iron Age roundhouses, dating to the first or second millennium BC.

The monument lies on a low ridge, at 270 to 280m OD, 660m WSW of Clachandruim and is marked on the 1:10000 Ordnance Survey map. It consists of three curvilinear stone banks. The E hut circle measures 10m diameter within a rubble-faced earthen bank 2m thick and 0.5m high. The middle hut circle is pear-shaped and measures a maximum of 11.5m by 8.5m within stony banks up to 2.5m thick and 0.4m high. The W hut circle measures a maximum of 10m by 8.5m within a stone bank up to 2.5m thick and 0.4m high. The S arc includes some outer facing stones and a natural boulder. All have entrances in the ESE.

The area proposed for scheduling comprises three discrete areas, each circular on plan and centred on a hut circle, to include the remains described and an area around them within which related material may be expected to be found, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

Cultural Significance

The monument's cultural significance can be expressed as follows:

Intrinsic characteristics: The monument consists of a well-preserved example of three later prehistoric roundhouses, with upstanding remains dating to the first or second millennium BC. The monument retains well constructed drystone walls, with some facing stones still evident. Given the site's current use as pastureland, with extensive boggy patches, it is likely that archaeologically significant deposits relating to construction, use and abandonment of the structures remain in place. In addition, it is likely that deposits survive that could provide data relating to the later prehistoric environment. The site has considerable potential to enhance understanding of later prehistoric roundhouses and the daily lives of the people who occupied them.

Contextual characteristics: The monument is a good representative of a once common class. These hut circles are the only ones in the immediate area that have not been affected by forestry planting since the 1960s. Several other hut circle sites lie within 1 km of this monument and as a group have the potential to provide a better understanding of how later prehistoric society was structured. In particular, there are fragments of what may have been a ritual landscape, including burnt mounds and standing stones, with the potential to provide information on the relationship between the agricultural/domestic and the ritual/funerary practices of the period.

National Importance: The monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to make a significant addition to the understanding of the past, in particular Bronze or Iron Age society and the nature of later prehistoric domestic practice. This potential is enhanced by its good preservation and the survival of marked field characteristics. The loss of the example would significantly impede our ability to understand the Iron Age in N Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the monument as NH63SW48; Highland SMR as NH63SW0048.

Aerial photographs:

RCAHMS C26099-NH63SW48 Caochan nam Poran.

RCAHMS C26097-NH63SW48 Caochan nam Poran.

RCAHMS C26096-NH63SW48 Caochan nam Poran.

RCAHMS C26098-NH63SW48 Caochan nam Poran.

References:

RCAHMS 1994, UPPER STRATHNAIRN, INVERNESS: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY, Edinburgh, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.

Ross D W 1984, 'Oreag a' Chlachan (Dores, Daviot and Dunluchity parish): Pre-Afforestation Survey', DISCOVERY EXCAV SCOT, 15.

Woodham A A 1963, 'Upper Strathnairn', DISCOVERY EXCAV SCOT, 32-37.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland