Description

The monument consists of the remains of a prehistoric settlement and a prehistoric chambered burial cairn.

The settlement has two surviving house foundations, a series of field walls and many stone heaps from agricultural land clearance. The larger house has been damaged in the construction of a sheep shelter, although an oval bank 9.5m E-W by 8.5m N-S survives, and may seal early deposits. The second house lies approximately 100m to the NE, and is of similar oval plan, although slightly smaller.

The second house lies at the focus of the best-preserved of the field walls which straggle across the low ground between Longa Ness and North Ward of Noonsbrough. Associated with these are a considerable number of cairns of field-cleared stones, some of which reach over 1m in height. The remains of a chambered cairn lie on a ledge on the hillside to the E of the settlement area. Only the large boulders defining the passage and chamber survive.

The chamber is 1.3m NNW-SSE by 1.4m ENE-WSW, and the entrance passage is only 0.6m wide and survives for a length of just over 1.0m. A few large stones on the S

and SE may indicate the remains of a kerb, but the rest of the cairn has been removed.

The area to be scheduled is irregular in plan, and incorporates all of the low-lying ground around the small loch called Shun of Longaness together with the shoulder of hill to the E, to incorporate the chambered cairn, the two homesteads and the field walls and clearance cairns, together with an area around them in which evidence relating to their construction and use may survive. The area is marked in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a particularly good example of a small late Neolithic or early Bronze Age agricultural settlement with associated burial cairn. Particular importance is afforded to this monument by the small loch and by coastal peat deposits, which offer the possibility of environmental evidence relating to the contemporary environment, landuse and economy of the area.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as HU25NE 22.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland