Description

The monument comprises the remains of two barrows dating from the Bronze Age (between about 2000 and 800 BC). The barrows are visible as two low-lying, sub-circular, turf-covered earthen mounds, immediately adjacent to each other. The mound to the S measures 7.5m diameter and stands 0.7m high. The larger mound to the N measures 12m and survives to a height of 1m. The remains of a well-built stone cist are visible towards the NW side of this mound, comprising a cover slab and four side slabs. Examined in 1928, this had contained the skeletal remains of three individuals laid with their heads to the S; the last to be inserted was a young man, placed on his right side in a crouched position. The monument occupies sloping ground at the neck of a promontory, overlooking the Bay of Isbister 800m to the SW and the Bay of Puldrite 600m to the E, at an altitude of around 40m above OD. The monument was first scheduled in 1936, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

The scheduled area 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 is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduling specifically excludes the above-ground elements of the 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, and provide evidence for the major social and economic changes which took place during this period. The barrows at West Puldrite retain their field characteristics to a marked degree. Archaeological excavation in the 1920s revealed evidence of well-preserved mortuary structures and burials within one of the barrows and there is high potential for further buried deposits to be preserved in both mounds. The cist structure survives intact today. Orkney's Bronze Age barrows are unusual in Scotland, and important within a British context, as the majority are earthen mounds as opposed to stone-built cairns. The Bronze Age period saw a move away from the construction of large monumental structures housing communal burials over an extended timeframe, towards more dispersed communities and individual burial in barrows and barrow cemeteries. The fact that the cist contained three individuals is therefore of particular interest. The significance of West Puldrite is enhanced by its association with other barrow mounds and Bronze Age sites on marginal land N of the Bay of Isbister. Our understanding of the dating, 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 HY41NW 1.

References

Corrie, J M 1929, 'A short cist at West Puldrite in the Parish of Evie and Rendall, Orkney', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 63, 190-3.

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

Downes, J 1998, 'Varme Dale, Gorn (Evie & Rendall parish), survey and excavation of burial mounds', Discovery Excav Scot 70.

Low, A 1929, 'Report on the human remains found in the cist', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 63, 193-5.

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, 83, no 283.

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

Source: Historic Environment Scotland