Description

The monument comprises a Bronze-Age standing stone that is situated at the N end of an area of rough ground that was formerly wooded.

The schist stone stands 2.7 m high. At ground level the stone measures 1m wide, but increases in width at the top. The stone stands in the centre of an enclosure measuring 13 m in diameter within a stony bank up to 1.5 m in thickness and 0.2 m in height. The interior contains a scatter of boulders.

The area to be scheduled is circular in plan, centred on the stone, to take in the stone, the enclosure, and an area around in which evidence for their use and construction can be expected to survive.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

Cultural Significance

The monuments archaeological significance can be expressed under three headings:

Intrinsic characteristics: The stone and enclosure are apparently unexcavated and have the potential to enhance the study of Bronze-Age communities and their ritual practices in Britain.

Contextual characteristics: Lulach's Stone is one of several impressive single standing stones in the region. Others include the Lang Stane O'Craigearn at Kemnay (NJ 723149) and Camus's Stone near Duffus (NJ 152682). The Aberdeenshire stones are part of a distribution extending over much of Britain.

Associative characteristics: The stone is so-called from the tradition that it marks the place where Lulach, stepson of Macbeth, was overtaken and killed after his father's defeat and death at Lumphanan on 15 August 1057. This tradition is associated with another stone in the region on Green Hill, in the parish of Tough.

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 of the ritual life of Bronze-Age communities in Aberdeenshire and their cultural links with other areas of the British Isles. The loss of this example would significantly affect our ability to understand and appreciate the extensive use made of the landscape by prehistoric peoples.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NJ41NE 2.

References:

ORDNANCE SURVEY, NAME BOOK, Original Name Books of the Ordnance Survey, Book No. 47, 46.

Shepherd I A G 1986, EXPLORING SCOTLAND'S HERITAGE, Edinburgh.

Simpson W D 1926, 'NOTES ON LULACH'S STONE, KILDRUMMY, ABERDEENSHIRE; A SYMBOL STONE RECENTLY FOUND IN MORTLACH CHURCHYARD, BANFFSHIRE; AND OTHER ANTIQUITIES', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 60, 273-4.

Simpson W D 1943, THE PROVINCE OF MAR, BEING THE RHIND LECTURES, Aberdeen University Studies, 121, Aberdeen, 51, 143.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland