Description

The monument comprises the remains of a burnt mound, dating probably to the Bronze Age (between about 2000 and 800 BC). It survives as a substantial crescent-shaped grass-covered mound, now measuring approximately 16m by 10m and standing around 1.2m high. In 1935, the RCAHMS surveyors suggested that it had had minimum dimensions of 23m by 20m and stood almost 2m high. The mound opens to the SE side, where there is a partly visible stone setting, possibly the remains of a tank or trough. The W side of the mound was dug into by the farmer at Hawell in the 1930s. This exposed a series of small stone-built compartments, with walls 4-5 courses high, and, some 2.3m to the E, a well-built stone tank with clay-luted corners. During his diggings, the farmer recovered numerous 'rude stone implements' and the bones of a young ox. The mound itself is composed mainly of accumulated burnt and cracked stones and other burnt material, and lies very close to a small burn. According to the first edition Ordnance Survey map, there may have been two mounds originally, but only one was visible by 1964. Overall the monument is in reasonable condition and retains much of its original form, despite the effects of earlier investigations. The monument is situated on low-lying improved pasture overlooking Deer Sound to the E, at around 25m above sea level. The monument was originally scheduled in 1938, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

The scheduled area is circular on plan, measuring 35m in diameter, as shown in red on the accompanying map. It includes 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. The above-ground elements of a modern water tank to the W and a well to the N are specifically excluded from the scheduling to allow for their maintenance.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to contribute to our understanding of the past, in particular, the dating, form and function of burnt mounds and their placing within the landscape. This is a reasonably well-preserved example of its type and its proximity to a range of other prehistoric monuments in the vicinity gives it added potential to enhance our understanding of burnt mounds as components of the wider prehistoric landscape in Orkney. The loss of this monument would impede our ability to understand the origins, function and development of burnt mounds and the nature of later prehistoric society and economy in Orkney.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as HY50NW 10.

References

Anthony, I 2003, Luminescence dating of Scottish burnt mounds: new investigations in Orkney and Shetland (unpubl PhD thesis, University of Glasgow).

Hedges, J 1975, 'Excavation of two Orcadian burnt mounds at Liddle and Beaquoy', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 106, 39-98.

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, 245-6, no 637.

RCAHMS 1987, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of Shapinsay, St Andrews and Deerness, Orkney Islands Area, The archaeological sites and monuments of Scotland series no 27, Edinburgh, 22, no 94.

ScARF 2013, Burnt Mounds, The Scottish Archaeological Research Framework, http://www.scottishheritagehub.com/content/331-burnt-mounds [accessed July 2013].

Toolis, R 2005, 'Excavation of a burnt mound at Meur, Sanday, Orkney', Scott Archaeol J 29, 31-49.

Topping, P 2011, Introduction to heritage assets: burnt mounds, English Heritage.

Towrie, S 2013, A brief history of Orkney - the Bronze Age, http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/bronzeage.htm [accessed July 2013].

Source: Historic Environment Scotland