Description

The monument comprises a group of three cairns dating probably from the Neolithic period or Bronze Age, between 4000 and 1000 BC. The cairns are visible as low, circular heaps of stone that are laid out along a line oriented SW-NE. The middle cairn is 80m from the SW cairn, and the NE cairn is 45m from the middle cairn. All are of similar size and form. The SW cairn measures about 16m in diameter and stands 1m high, the middle cairn 14m in diameter and 1.6m high, and the NE cairn 11m in diameter and 0.75m high. An arc of stones around the N edge of the middle cairn represents a possible kerb. The cairns stand at about 80m above sea level on the rounded summit of a low hill, some 1.5km east of the head of the Voe of Browland. The monument was first scheduled in 1959, but the documentation does not meet modern standards: the present rescheduling rectifies this.

The three areas to be scheduled are circular on plan, each measuring 35m in diameter, and centred on the cairns. The scheduling includes the remains described above and areas around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment 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

Excavation elsewhere in Scotland has demonstrated that round cairns were often used to cover and mark human burials and are late Neolithic period or Bronze Age in origin, dating most commonly from the late third millennium BC to the early second millennium BC. Although there has been some disturbance to the centres of the SW and NE cairns at Stanydale, archaeological information is likely to survive beneath the ground surface. The central portion of the middle cairn seems intact. This structure has particularly high potential to contain one or more burials, either centrally positioned or away from the centre of the cairn. The excavation of similar monuments elsewhere has shown that cairns often incorporate or overlie graves or pits containing cist settings, skeletal remains in the form of cremations or inhumations, pottery and stone tools. These deposits can help us understand more about the practice and significance of burial and commemorating the dead at specific times in prehistory. They may also help us to understand the changing structure of society in the area. In addition, these cairns are likely to overlie and seal a buried land surface that could provide evidence of the immediate environment before the cairns were constructed, and botanical remains, including pollen or charred plant material, may survive within archaeological deposits deriving from the cairns' construction and use. This evidence can help us build up a picture of climate, vegetation and agriculture in the area before and during construction and use of the cairns.

Contextual characteristics

Cairns are well represented in the Shetland Islands, but these examples have particular interest because of the way they cluster in a linear alignment and because of their proximity to other very significant archaeological sites. The three cairns described here span a distance of about 160m, but the alignment is continued a further 135m to the SW by a structure sealed beneath a planticrub, and then by another probable cairn represented by a spread of stones 10m in diameter. There are also many cairns in the wider vicinity, including a group of three on the summit and NE slopes of Laidie Hill, 1.8km to the southeast, and four cairns sited above the W shore of the Voe of Browland, 2.6km to the west. Across Scotland, cairns seem to be positioned both to see from and to be seen, and they are generally inter-visible. In this case, the hilltop location of the three cairns ensures a line of sight to most of the cairns in the vicinity. The position of these cairns in relation to contemporary agricultural land and settlement is likely to be significant and merits future detailed analysis. Two particularly important settlements and field systems are known in the vicinity, one at the head of Scutta Voe, 1.3km to the SSW, and the second at Stanydale, 0.9km to the south, which includes the remarkable prehistoric structure known as Stanydale Temple. These settlements have considerable potential to contribute to our understanding and analysis of use of the local landscape in prehistory. Given the many comparable sites in the area, this monument has the potential to further our understanding not just of funerary site location and practice, but also of the structure of early prehistoric society and economy.

Associative characteristics

The three cairns are each labelled 'Tum' on the Ordnance Survey 1st edition map.

National Importance

This monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to make a significant addition to our understanding of the past, particularly the design and construction of burial monuments, the nature of burial practices and their significance in prehistoric and later society. Buried evidence from cairns can also enhance our knowledge about wider prehistoric society, how people lived, where they came from and who they had contact with. This monument is particularly valuable because it lies in a landscape where there are several other cairns, as well as two important settlements and field systems. The loss of the monument would significantly diminish our future ability to appreciate and understand the placing of cairns within the landscape and the meaning and importance of death and burial in prehistoric life.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the sites as HU25SE 20, 21 and 22. The Shetland Amenity Trust SMR references are MSN2339 (PrefRef 2222), MSN2340 (PrefRef 2223) and MSN2341 (PrefRef 2224).

References

RCAHMS 1946 Twelfth Report with an Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Orkney and Shetland, 107.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland