Description

The monument comprises three burial mounds: a pair of circular mounds in close proximity to each other, and a third circular mound located NE (downslope) of the pair of mounds. The monument was first scheduled in 1940, but an inadequate area was included to protect all of the archaeological remains. The present re-scheduling rectifies this.

The two adjacent mounds, approximately 8m apart, were originally described as each about 10m in diameter and standing 1.5m and 1m in height respectively. Little remains on the ground surface today, mainly due to the effects of long-term ploughing. The upcast from a deep field drain cut along their western edges has also obscured their appearance. Despite their degraded state, however, the mounds are still clearly discernible as a surface feature around their N, E and S sides.

The third mound, which lies approximately 50m NE of the pair of mounds, was not previously included in the scheduled area. This mound is about 7m in diameter and stands up to 0.5m high.

Archaeological excavations elsewhere in Orkney have shown that mounds such as these, even when their above-ground appearance has been much altered, often overlie human burials, pyre sites and other features associated with the rituals of Bronze Age burial (second millennium BC).

The area to be scheduled has two components. The first is rectangular in shape and measures 40m N-S by 25m E-W, as marked in red on the accompanying map. It includes the two mounds and an area around them in which evidence relating to their construction and use may survive. The second element is a circle 17m in diameter, centred on the centre of the third mound, to include the mound and an area around it in which evidence relating to its construction and use may survive, also marked in red on the accompanying map. The post-and-wire fence that runs along the W edge of the rectangular area, and the edges of the open field drain that runs through this same area, are excluded from the scheduling to allow for routine maintenance.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a group of prehistoric mounds which have the potential to add to our knowledge of Bronze Age burial and ritual practices, and of the contemporary landscape. Their importance is enhanced because of their group value, and because they bear comparison with a number of similar monuments in Orkney which have been subject to excavation and research over the last decade.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as HY22NE 16.

RCAHMS 1946, TWELFTH REPORT WITH AN INVENTORY OF THE ANCIENT MONUMENTS OF ORKNEY AND SHETLAND, 3V, Edinburgh, 25.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland