Description

The monument comprises the buried remains of up to nine barrows dating probably to the Bronze Age (between 2000 and 800 BC). Four of the barrows are visible as slight rises in the field; the other barrows are likely to be preserved as buried remains. The visible mounds form a tight cluster of sub-circular, low earthen mounds and are spread by ploughing to around 14m in diameter. Overall, the barrow cemetery covers an area of some 1.3ha. The monument occupies a NE-facing slope at around 25m above sea level, overlooking the Loch of Harray to the SE. The monument was first scheduled in 1962, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

The scheduled area is quadrilateral on plan, measuring 160m NW-SE by 85m N-S, 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 scheduled area excludes the post-and-wire fences which form the current field boundary.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to make a significant addition to understanding of funerary practice in the Bronze Age. 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. The cemetery at Cumbla Newgarth is notable because it contains the remains of at least nine barrows in a cluster and once formed a cemetery. Despite the plough damage, excavation elsewhere has demonstrated good levels of preservation of mortuary structures and burials, as well as the presence of pottery and stone tools, beneath and around barrows. The significance of Cumbla Newgarth is enhanced by its association with other barrow mounds and cemeteries on marginal land nearby. Our understanding of the form, function and distribution of Bronze Age barrows in Orkney would be diminished if this monument was to be lost or damaged.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as HY21NE 42.

References

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).

Downes, J 1999, 'Orkney Barrows Project', Current Archaeology 165, 324-327.

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, 262, no 702.

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

Source: Historic Environment Scotland