Description

The monument comprises a turf-covered burial cairn, likely to date to about 4500-3500 years ago. It lies in the middle of a field 340m uphill and W of Levrattich.

The round cairn measures about 14.5m in diameter and varies in height from 1.0m to 1.5m on its southern side. In otherwise fairly good condition, the northern arc of the monument has been damaged due to a cattle feeding stance being placed at the site.

The area to be scheduled is circular on plan, centred on the middle of the cairn (NH 94477 45684), to include the visible remains of the cairn and an area around within which evidence relating to its construction and use may survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

Cultural Significance

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

Intrinsic characteristics: This Bronze Age burial cairn has impressive upstanding remains and appears relatively undisturbed, despite a degree of cattle damage to the northern arc and ploughing having accentuated the perimeter. The monument as a whole is clearly visible in the landscape, being on a gently sloping hillside above a deep river valley, and the cairn potentially preserves archaeological deposits relating to Bronze Age burial rites within it.

Contextual characteristics: Comparing and contrasting the cairn to nearby Bronze Age funerary monuments can enable an understanding of how people positioned such sites within the landscape, as well as provide contexts for identity and society. Round cairns often contain a central cist with an inhumation and grave goods, and given the fair condition of this monument, potential exists for this monument to add value to the knowledge and understanding of the group as a whole.

Associative characteristics: The deliberate positioning of the cairn, on a gently sloping hillside with good views over the valley below, adds an aesthetic attribute to its overall significance. Prehistoric people designed the cairn so they could see over the landscape from it, as well as to it.

National Importance: The monument is of national importance because it is a good example of a relatively undisturbed Bronze Age round cairn. It has the potential to reveal important information about funerary practice in the local Bronze Age community, as well as, by association, the rest of northern Scotland. Its loss would impede our ability to understand the placing of such monuments within the landscape, as well as our knowledge of Bronze Age funerary rites.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the site as NH94NW3.

Aerial photographs:

Visible on RAF air photographs: CPE/Scot/UK/184: 2411-12 (flown 9th October).

Visible on OS air photographs: 67/140:144-5 (flown 2nd June 1967).

References:

RCAHMS 1978, THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES AND MONUMENTS OF NAIRN DISTRICT, HIGHLAND REGION, The archaeological sites and monuments of Scotland series No. 5, 9, No. 21, Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland