Description

The monument comprises a burnt mound, located to the W side of a burn on the upper slopes of a wide valley. A track passes immediately to the WNW of the mound.

The mound is composed of cracked stone, black soil and charcoal, and is C-shaped in plan. It measures 9 m from N to S by 7 m transversely, and up to 1 m in height. The open side of the mound faces towards the burn.

A burnt mound is normally formed of charcoal, heat-cracked stones and black earth that has built up around a hearth and central trough. In northern Scotland they tend to date to the Bronze Age, but in SW Scotland, as in Ireland, many belong to the first millennium AD. In the Northern Isles they can be associated with houses. Interpretations vary enormously, but many burnt mounds, such as this, may be cooking places related to hunting or herding.

The area to be scheduled is circular on plan, centred on the burnt mound, to include the burnt mound and an area around in which evidence for its construction and use may survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The track is to be excluded from the scheduling, to allow for its maintenance.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

Cultural Significance

The monument's archaeological significance can be expressed as follows:

Intrinsic characteristics: This monument is a well-preserved archaeological site with upstanding remains that are typical of its class. There is a high likelihood of associated well-preserved sub-surface remains. It has a typical location for this class of monument, situated adjacent to a stream. It has the potential to provide information about socio-economic structures of the prehistoric or early historic communities that built them, as well as about the environments in which they lived, farmed, gathered and hunted.

Contextual characteristics: This class of monument is fairly well represented in Highland. However, this example is marked by its good state of preservation and high upstanding remains.

National Importance

This monument is of national importance because it is a particularly well-preserved example of this monument type in an area where they appear to have largely been damaged by subsequent landuse. It is also a typical representative of its class. This monument has the potential to answer questions about local forms of burnt mounds and answer specific questions about local communities, how they lived and interacted with the world and people around them. The loss of this example would restrict the ability to study these interactions.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NH53SW57.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland