Description

The monument is the remains of a burial mound dating probably from the Bronze Age (between about 2000 and 800 BC). The monument is visible as a circular mound of earth and stones, measuring 8.5m in diameter and standing to a height of 0.7m. There is evidence of some earlier intrusion into the mound in the form of two depressions in its surface, but overall it appears to be relatively intact and in reasonable condition. The mound is located around 1km from the NE coast of Rousay, on low-lying land 20m above sea level, overlooking the Loch of Wasbister and Saviskaill Bay to the NE. The monument was first scheduled in 1936, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

The scheduled area is circular on plan and measures 20m in diameter. 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, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to contribute to our understanding of funerary practice in the Bronze Age. Burial mounds and earthen barrows form an important and relatively widespread element of Orkney's Bronze Age landscape, and provide evidence for the major social and economic changes which took place during this period. This mound retains most of its original form and excavation of similar sites elsewhere in Orkney has demonstrated that mounds such as this have the potential to contain one or more burials and associated features. The Ivybank burial mound is also significant as a component of a wider relict landscape in Rousay, reflecting the various ways in which prehistoric communities used the landscape for burial and commemoration. Our understanding of the form, function and distribution of Bronze Age burial monuments would be diminished if this mound was to be lost or damaged.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as HY33SE 4.

References

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).

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, 226, no 590.

RCAHMS 1982, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre, Orkney Islands Area, The archaeological sites and monuments of Scotland series no 16, Edinburgh, 19, no 44.

Towrie, S 2013, 'The Knowes o' Trotty', http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/knowestrotty/ [accessed August 2013].

Source: Historic Environment Scotland