Description

The monument comprises a ring cairn, a form of prehistoric burial mound. It is located in a small clearing in Bennachie Forest, a mature conifer plantation on the E flank of Millstone Hill, at about 210m above sea level.

The monument consists of a grass- and heather-covered cairn measuring about 14.5m in diameter and about 1m in height. The cairn has a flat top and a circular hollow (known as the inner court) measuring about 4m in diameter, slightly to the E of its centre. Ring cairns are features of the recumbent stone circle and Clava cairn traditions of N and NE Scotland, placing their date of construction and use within the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age.

The area to be scheduled is circular on plan, centred on the cairn, to include the remains described and an area around in which evidence relating to its 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 cultural significance can be expressed as follows:

Intrinsic characteristics

The monument is in a good state of preservation. Unusually for this class of monument, its characteristic structural features are readily visible. Its associated archaeological deposits are likely to be well preserved and it retains the potential to provide dating evidence for its use and information about how it was constructed and used. It is also likely to seal information about the prehistoric environment in which it was built.

Contextual characteristics

Although mature trees currently obscure views to the wider setting of the cairn, it occupies a prominent position in the landscape and would originally have had wide views over the surrounding area. It would have had a significant place within the prehistoric landscape of the area, and can be compared and contrasted with nearby prehistoric funerary monuments and others outside the region to create an understanding of regional identity and society during this period. The monument is one of a number of prehistoric settlement sites, both domestic and funerary, on this flank of Millstone Hill, further enhancing the value of the monument. The cairn straddles the 19th-century parish boundary between Oyne and Chapel of Garioch, suggesting that it served as a reference point in the medieval and post-medieval landscape.

National Importance

The monument is of national importance because it is a well-preserved late Neolithic or Bronze-Age cairn with good potential for the survival of archaeological evidence relating to its construction and use, as well as the environment in which it was created. Occupying a prominent position, it would have been visible from a wide area of the prehistoric landscape in which people conducted their day-to-day activities. Its loss would affect our ability to understand this landscape and prehistoric society in this locality and, by association, the rest of Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the monument as NJ62SE19; Aberdeenshire SMR as NJ62SE0018.

References:

RCAHMS, IN THE SHADOW OF BENNACHIE: THE FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY OF DONSIDE, ABERDEENSHIRE, unpublished survey report.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland