Description

The monument comprises the remains of four hut circles, the footings of the walls of roundhouses that are likely to be of Late Bronze Age or Iron Age date (the first or second millennium BC) together with associated field boundaries, including a gateway, and field clearance cairns. The remains are located on an area of gently sloping and relatively well-drained ground to the SW of Cairn Ardachy at a height of between 260 m OD and 280 m OD.

The hut circles are visible as upstanding bracken and heather covered sub-circular banks 0.3 m to 0.5 m high and up to 2.5 m in width, enclosing interiors from 6.5 m to 12m in diameter. The southernmost hut circle of the group has a clearly visible entrance in the SE quarter (1m wide). Lengths of field banks incorporating boulders and a gateway flanked by large upright boulders are evident close to the southern group of three hut circles, together with heaps of field clearance stones.

The remains described above represent a sample of a larger field system and group of hut circles identified by the Ordnance Survey in the 1970s.

The area to be scheduled consists of two separate areas on plan, one circular and one polygonal, to include the visible remains and an area around in which evidence relating to their construction and use may survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

Cultural Significance

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

Intrinsic characteristics: The monument consists of well-preserved examples of four later prehistoric roundhouses, together with elements of an associated field system, dating to the first or second millennium BC. The various elements of the monument are in a relatively good state of preservation; they are upstanding and clearly visible in the landscape. Given the site's continued use as rough grazing, it is likely that archaeologically significant deposits relating to the construction, use and abandonment of the structures remain in place. In addition, it is likely that deposits survive that could provide data relating to the later prehistoric environment. The site has considerable potential to enhance understanding of later prehistoric roundhouses as well as environmental information on prehistoric upland landuse.

Contextual characteristics: The monument is a good representative of a once common class. Several other hut circle sites lie within 1 km of this monument and as a group have the potential to provide a better understanding of how later prehistoric society was structured. As a well-preserved group of hut circles, the monument has the potential to reveal much about house building and domestic life in the later prehistoric communities of NE Scotland. Comparing and contrasting each hut circle to the other hut circles within this group, to other upland hut circles in the locality, and to lowland cropmark sites and others outside the region, can create an understanding of regional identity, economy and society.

National Importance

The monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to make a significant addition to the understanding of the past, in particular Bronze- or Iron-Age society and the nature of later prehistoric domestic and agricultural practice. Its good preservation and the survival of marked field characteristics enhance this potential. The loss of the example would significantly impede our ability to understand the Bronze and Iron Age in N Scotland. The sample of the associated agricultural landscape, represented by the clearance cairns and lengths of field bank, is important because it preserves the relationship of the houses to the immediate archaeological landscape.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the monument as part of NH52SE 6.

Aerial photographs:

RCAHMS, C25874 Cairn Ardachy, Hut circles; Field System. 1994.

RCAHMS, C25872 Cairn Ardachy, Hut circles; Field System. 1994.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland