Description

The monument comprises a large, grass-covered mound located at a height of about 95m OD on the NW slope of Burgar Hill. The monument was first schediled in 1936, but an inadequate area was included to protect all of the archaeological remains. The present proposal rectifies this.

This substantial mound stands approximately 3m high and measures about 18m in diamtere. In profile it is flat-topped with steeply sloping sides. Some large stones are exposed close to the summit of the mound, but the mound itself appears mostly to consist of small stones and earth. There is a slight depression in the summit. Monuments such as this normally date to the Neolithic or Bronze Age (third to second century millennium BC) and were usually associated with human burial.

The area to be scheduled is a circle measuring 40m in diameter, centred on the centre of the mound, to include the whole of the mound and an area around it in which evidence relating to its construction and use is likely to survive, as marked in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as the remains of a substantial prehistoric mound. The mound is located in undisturbed land and thus has considerable potential to provide important information about prehistoric ritual and funerary architecture and practices.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as HY23NW 9.

References:

RCAHMS 1946, TWELFTH REPORT WITH AN INVENTORY OF THE ANCIENT MONUMENTS OF ORKNEY AND SHETLAND, 3V, Edinburgh, 81.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland