Description

The monument consists of the remains of a ring-ditch house, visible as a penannular ditch and bank, located on the N side of Glen Buchat at 450m above sea level. The house is likely to be Late Bronze Age or Iron Age, dating to the first or second millennium BC.

The monument is a circular stone bank measuring 15 m in diameter, over a thick bank and shallow internal ditch. The ditch is 2.1m in breadth and 0.3m in depth. The outer bank measures up to 2.7m in thickness and 0.3m in height. The entrance is to the S.

The area to be scheduled is circular on plan, to include the remains described and an area around them in which related material may be expected to be found, 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 the well-preserved remains of a later prehistoric ring-ditch house. The monument retains its internal ditch and external bank. Given the site's location on a shooting estate, in an area that has never been ploughed, it is likely that archaeologically significant deposits relating to construction, use and abandonment of the structure 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 and the daily lives of the people who occupied them.

Contextual characteristics: The monument is a type of hut-circle. It is a good representative of a widespread class in E Scotland. We know of relatively few ring-ditch houses in Strathdon, however, and only six in Glenbuchat. The ring-ditch house lies within an upland landscape and is surrounded by the remains of post-medieval shieling huts. Together with the shielings, the ring-ditch house retains the potential to tell us much about the development of agricultural practices over time

Associative characteristics: The monument is the product of Iron-Age domestic activities and has survived because the area has not been used for intensive agriculture.

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 practice. This potential is enhanced by its good preservation and the survival of marked field characteristics. The loss of the example would significantly impede our ability to understand the Bronze and Iron Age in NE Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the monument as NH31NE120.

References:

RCAHMS 2007, IN THE SHADOW OF BENNACHIE: THE FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY OF DONSIDE, ABERDEENSHIRE, Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland