Description

The monument comprises the remains of two burnt mounds lying 6m apart, visible as upstanding, sub-circular, turf-covered mounds. The smaller mound lies to the west and measures about 10m in diameter and 0.5m high. The larger mound lies to the east and measures about 13m in diameter and stands up to 1.5m high. The burnt mounds are likely to date to between 2000 and 1000 BC. The monument lies at around 25m above sea level, in a hollow between two low ridges, 300m from the rocky east coast of Mainland, 4km north of Sumburgh Head. The mounds lie on poorly drained ground next to a small, diffuse watercourse. The monument was first scheduled in 1975, but the documentation does not meet modern standards: the present rescheduling rectifies this.

The area to be scheduled is irregular on plan, to include the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment may survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduling specifically excludes the above-ground elements of a post-and-wire fence to allow for its maintenance.

Cultural Significance

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

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

Intrinsic characteristics

Burnt mounds are made from heaps of burnt and fire-cracked stone, occurring usually within a matrix of dark soil and perhaps charcoal or ash. The stones represent the waste product from the use of hot stones to heat water, probably for a variety of purposes. After several immersions, the stones would crack and break and were discarded to form burnt mounds. Burnt mounds are often accompanied by troughs that held the water and there is sometimes evidence for associated shelters and the hearths in which the stones were heated. Troughs are usually set in the ground and lined with wood, stone or clay. Burnt mounds typically lie close to a stream or other water source, as in this case.

The two upstanding mounds that form this monument are now largely turf covered and survive in good condition. Some small-scale excavation has been conducted in the past and has demonstrated that the monument is complex and contains a range of structural features. The larger (eastern) mound has a central hollow in which a sub-circular stone structure is visible, defined by edge-set slabs indicating a diameter of about 3m. Early researchers suggested this might be the remains of an earlier or later prehistoric house, but evidence from other burnt mounds now suggests that these monuments may be associated with contemporary structural features, including walls and areas of paving. Here, there are also traces of an entrance passage and radiating partitions. On the south side of this mound there is also a rectangular stone-lined trough, measuring 1.5m by 0.6m transversely, that still holds water. Some burnt stone is exposed on the side of the mound. The smaller (western) mound has a rectangular setting of stones protruding from the turf on its S side.

This monument has good potential to inform our understanding of the date and nature of burnt mounds, their function(s) and duration. It may contain artefacts or ecofacts that can increase our understanding of the function of burnt mounds and how they were used. The various internal features visible within these mounds may preserve evidence for a development sequence and can help future researchers understand better the range of structures that might be associated with burnt mounds. These mounds may have accumulated directly on an old ground surface and may seal important environmental information that could increase our knowledge of the landscape and land-use before and during the mounds' creation.

Contextual characteristics

There are around 1,900 recorded examples of burnt mounds in Scotland with notable concentrations in some areas, including Shetland. The greater number in Shetland may also reflect increased survival because of a lack of later development or agricultural improvement. Burnt mounds in the Northern and Western Isles and northern Scotland are often particularly large. They often show a classic crescent shape and may have been reused on many occasions over a significant period. They may also have served different social and practical functions to smaller mounds.

In Scotland, excavated examples typically date to the middle Bronze Age, around 1500 BC, but the overall range of dates varies from the late Neolithic through to the early historic period (around 2400 BC to AD 900). A common interpretation of these monuments in Scotland is that they were used to boil water for cooking. However, researchers have also suggested that they could have been used as saunas or sweat-lodges (possibly medicinal as well as sanitary); as baths; or for textile production (dying and fulling), brewing or leather working.

Burnt mounds are often found in relatively isolated locations in Scotland, but in Shetland they sometimes occur in association with settlement remains. This example, with its range of structural features, can be compared with a burnt mound complex at Trowie Loch in Nesting, and a burnt mound excavated on Bressay and then reconstructed and displayed close to the Bressay ferry terminal. A variety of other monuments in the vicinity demonstrate use of the surrounding landscape during prehistory. Another burnt mound lies 340m to the SW and the remains of a broch and settlement lie 650m to the SSW. There is further potential to study this burnt mound in its landscape context and to investigate whether it was sited close to, or away from, foci of contemporary domestic activity.

National Importance

This monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to make a significant addition to the understanding of the past, in particular prehistoric society and the construction and use of burnt mounds and their placing in the landscape. This pair of mounds has particular interest because of the evidence for several structural features, either contemporary with the mounds or demonstrating a development sequence. The loss of this monument would impede our ability to understand the nature of later prehistoric domestic and ritual practice in Shetland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the site as HU41SW 5. The Shetland Amenity Trust SMR reference is MSN621 (PrefRef 621).

References

Calder, C, S, T, 1965 'Cairns, Neolithic houses and burnt mounds in Shetland' in PSAS, 96, 82.

RCAHMS, 1946 The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Twelfth report with an inventory of the ancient monuments of Orkney and Shetland, 3v Edinburgh. Vol 3, 42.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland