Description

The monument consists of the remains of a prehistoric farming settlement, consisting of the foundations of one house together with traces of field walls and a number of cairns of field-cleared stones.

The settlement lies on the SE-facing slope of the valley Gruni Gill. The house is represented by an oval mound of boulders, some 10m NNE-SSW by 6.5m WNW-ESE, with the entrance on the SE. The perimeter includes several substantial stones. The interior is obscured by debris. There is a substantial mound of stones about 35m to the E

which may be the remains of a cairn or of an associated domestic or agricultural building. A number of small cairns of field-cleared stones, none more than 2.0m across, dot the nearby slope; in places these are linked by short stretches of wall-foundation.

The area to be scheduled is irregular on plan, measuring a maximum of 150m SW-NE by a maximum of 70m transversely. The SE boundary runs 10m W of the stream in the foot of the valley, and the SW boundary is 10m N of the break of slope above the steep shoreline. The area to be scheduled is marked in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a fine example of a small prehistoric farming settlement, with a single main dwelling. The survival of stretches of field walling and clearance cairns offers the possibility of recovering information about the disposition of the elements of such settlements, and about settlement development, while the house may contain deposits which would provide information on domestic and agricultural economy in the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as HU25NE 12.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland