Description

The monument comprises two cairns of prehistoric date. They lie approximately 130m apart in gently sloping improved pasture at approximately 245m above sea level.

The E cairn is situated at NH 65701 34470. It is a very pronounced mound in an open landscape setting on a terrace on the lip of a slope, with views across rolling farmland and NE to Loch Bunachton and the hills beyond. The cairn, an irregular sub-oval in plan with some spread, is 13m in diameter and 1.2m in height. The S side of the cairn is flatter in profile. There is clearance rubble on the SW and N sides of the cairn. There are large stones on the top of the mound with more rubble or possible cairn material below.

The W cairn is situated at NH 65538 34478. It is round in shape, measuring 9m in diameter and 0.8m in height. Like the E cairn, it has been supplemented by field clearance and clipped by ploughing.

The area to be scheduled consists of two discrete circular areas on plan, to include the visible remains and an area around in which evidence relating to their 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: Despite a degree of erosion and the addition of field clearance stones, this pair of cairns retains important field characteristics that clearly identify them as Bronze Age round cairns, a form of prehistoric burial site. Elements of their retaining outer kerbs can be still be traced. In common with other members of this class of monument, the two cairns are sited in prominent positions and are clearly visible in the landscape. The cairns are likely to preserve archaeological deposits relating to prehistoric burial rites, as well as to seal evidence for the environment in which people built them.

Contextual characteristics: The cairns were an intrinsic part of the Bronze Age landscape and can be compared and contrasted to nearby prehistoric funerary monuments and others outside the region to create an understanding of regional identity and society during this period. The site's location affords extensive views and ensures intervisibility between the cairns and other prehistoric sites, both domestic and funerary, in the valley below.

National Importance: This monument is of national importance because it is a pair of upstanding Bronze Age round cairns with the potential to reveal much about funerary practice in the prehistoric communities of NE Scotland. It has the potential to make a significant contribution to our knowledge of prehistoric society in this locality and, by association, the rest of Scotland. The loss of the monument would affect our future ability to appreciate and understand the prehistoric landscape and its inhabitants.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the cairns as NH63SE 8; Highland Council SMR as NH63SE0008.

RCAHMS 1994, UPPER STRATHNAIRN, INVERNESS: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY, Edinburgh, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, 9.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland