Description

The monument comprises an alignment of three cairns of probable Bronze Age date that lie at around 25m above sea level, close to the River Nairn. They sit in regenerating woodland 325m ENE of Ackron cottage at Kinchyle farm, each visible as a mound covered in grass, broom and gorse.

Situated on the crest of a glacial ridge, the cairns are aligned from NW to SE and set about 5m apart. The NW cairn measures approximately 6.5m in diameter and survives to about 0.5m in height. The central cairn measures approximately 7m in diameter and about 0.5m high, with the SE cairn measuring 3m in diameter and about 0.3m in height. The remains of a partial ditch surrounds the central and SE cairns; the central cairn has traces of a ditch 1m wide to its N and E sides, with the SE cairn having traces of a ditch 0.5m wide also to its N and E sides.

The area to be scheduled is rectangular on plan, to include the remains described and an area around within 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: Visible as an alignment of turf and scrub-covered mounds, the monument is an excellent example of a well-preserved Bronze Age cairn complex. There has been a lack of intensive landuse on the site in recent times; historical mapping shows woodland over the site as well as the current regenerating woodland. This indicates the potential for good preservation of funerary remains and archaeological deposits within each cairn. Buried soil beneath each cairn, and deposits within the fill of each ditch, may be preserved, and these would provide evidence of the Bronze Age environment at the time people built the cairns. The monument has the potential to further our understanding of Bronze Age funerary practices, as well as inform our knowledge of the structural features of small cairns and surrounding ditches.

Contextual characteristics: The three cairns are representative of the clusters of prehistoric burial monuments which characterise this region. The proximity and visibility of a large barrow 400m to the SSE at Hangman's Hill enhances their value. A range of other prehistoric funerary sites are clustered along the Nairn valley, including a large group of cropmarks indicating a Bronze Age settlement and ritual site 500m to the ESE. Spatial analysis of these cairns and other burial sites may further our understanding of funerary site location, the structure of society, and the Bronze Age economy. Information gained from the preservation and study of this site has the potential to offer an insight into the wider knowledge of Bronze Age funerary practices across Scotland.

National Importance

This monument is of national importance because it is a well-preserved, representative cluster of small Bronze Age burial cairns that characterise the wider relict funerary landscape. They form an intrinsic element of the prehistoric burial and settlement pattern along the River Nairn. Funerary remains and artefacts from cairns have the potential to tell us about wider prehistoric society, how people lived, where they came from and who they had contact with. The old ground surfaces sealed by the monument can provide information about what the contemporary environment looked like and how the prehistoric farmers who buried and cremated their dead here managed it. Its loss would impede our ability to understand the placing of such monuments within the landscape both in this region and across Scotland, as well as our knowledge of Bronze Age social structure and economy.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the site as NH85SE 13; Highland SMR as NH82SE0013.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland