Description

The monument comprises the remains of ten or more burial mounds or barrows, forming part of a barrow cemetery dating probably to the Bronze Age (between approximately 2000 and 800 BC). The mounds are all roughly circular on plan and aligned loosely NW-SE, with an outlier to the NE. The mounds vary in diameter between 4m and 12m and survive between 0.3m and 1.25m in height. Antiquarian investigations have indicated the presence of burial structures within some of the mounds and, in one case, the remains of a stone cist from which burnt bones have been recovered are visible. The mounds are located on arable land on the SE shoulder of Ravie Hill overlooking the Loch of Boardhouse to the E, at approximately 35m above sea level. The monument was first scheduled in 1938, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

The scheduling comprises two areas: an irregular-shaped area to the E of the road and a semi-circular area W of the road, to include the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to 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.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to make a significant addition to our understanding of funerary practice in the Bronze Age. Earthen barrows form an important and relatively widespread element of Orkney's Bronze Age landscape. Despite the impact of earlier investigations, some rabbit burrowing, animal erosion and the building of the road, at least eight of the mounds are still clearly visible, and there are less clear remains of several others. We know from recent excavations of similar sites that these monuments can contain important burial remains, including cists, human skeletal material and ashes, as well as artefactual and ecofactual information about their design, construction and use and the environmental conditions at the time of their construction and use. Orkney's Bronze Age barrows are unusual in Scotland, and important within a British context, because the majority are earthen mounds as opposed to stone-built cairns. Barrows provide evidence for significant changes which took place in society and funerary practice in the Bronze Age in Orkney. This site was clearly a barrow cemetery and probably preserves evidence for a sequence of burials and related activities. The significance of the group is enhanced by its relationship with concentrations of other barrows nearby and other ritual and funerary monuments in the wider landscape. Our understanding of the date, form, function and distribution of Bronze Age barrows would be diminished if this monument was to be lost or damaged.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as HY22NE8.

References

Ashmore, P J 2003, 'Orkney burials in the first millennium AD'. In Downes, J and Ritchie, A (eds), Sea Change: Orkney and Northern Europe in the Later Iron Age, Balgavies: Angus, 35.

Downes, J 1994, 'Excavation of a Bronze Age burial at Mousland, Stromness, Orkney', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 124, 151.

Downes, J 1995, 'Linga Fold', Current Archaeology 142, 396-399.

Downes, J 1997, The Orkney Barrows Project survey results and management strategy (unpubl rep to Historic Scotland: ARCUS, University of Sheffield).

Hedges, M E 1979, 'The excavation of the Knowes of Quoyscottie, Orkney: a cemetery of the early first millennium BC', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 108, 153.

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, 33-4, no 94.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland