Description

The monument is the remains of a palisaded enclosure dating probably to the first millennium AD. The enclosure lies buried beneath the ploughsoil and is visible as cropmarks captured on oblique aerial photographs. Pits visible in the interior of the enclosure indicate the likely presence of a timber structure. The monument lies on gently undulating land at about 30m above OD to the S side of the Lunan Water.

The aerial photographs indicate an elongated oval palisaded enclosure measuring 32m NE-SW by 17m transversely, with an entrance in the flattened SW arc. A number of pits are visible towards the SW end of the interior. These appear to form a square setting and may represent the remains of a four-post structure or part of a more extensive building.

The scheduled area is rectangular on plan, measuring 60m NE-SW by 45m transversely, centred on the centre of the enclosure. The scheduling 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. The monument was first scheduled in 1994, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to make a significant addition to knowledge and understanding of prehistoric or early historic enclosures in eastern Scotland. Elongated oval palisaded enclosures are relatively rare survivals and the aerial photographs indicate the presence of well-defined post settings within the interior. The monument expands the range of types of enclosure known in the Lunan Valley and its importance is enhanced by its association with the wider archaeological landscape of unenclosed settlements and ritual and funerary remains. This landscape forms an important concentration of evidence for social and economic change in eastern Scotland from around 4000 BC to AD 1000. The relatively rare form of the enclosure means that our understanding of the distribution and character of prehistoric or early historic enclosures would be diminished if this monument was to be lost or damaged.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NO64NW 86. The Angus Sites and Monuments Record reference is NO64NW0086.

ReferencesAerial Photographs B05271, B05274

McGill, C 2003, 'The excavation of a palisaded enclosure and associated structures at Ironshill East, near Inverkeilor, Angus', Tayside and Fife Archaeol Jour 9, 14-33.

Canmore

https://canmore.org.uk/site/68222/

HER/SMR Reference

Angus SMR NO64NW0086

Source: Historic Environment Scotland