Documents

Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).

The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.

• Type

  Legal Documents

  Title

  SM12328_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600014208)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises a single standing stone likely to date to the late Neolithic or Bronze Age. It survives as an upstanding monolith within a cultivated field, approximately 100m above sea level. The standing stone is located on N-facing, gently sloping ground less than two km south of the River Don and WNW of the locally high ground surrounding Tyrebagger Hill.

The earthfast granite boulder measures 0.6m at its widest and is approximately 1.5m high. It is broadly square in plan, tapering slightly towards its top and it leans very slightly to the south-east. The remains of what may be packing stones are visible around its base.

The area to be scheduled is circular on plan centred on the stone, to include the remains described and an area around within which evidence relating to their construction and use may survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Statement of National Importance

Cultural Significance

The monument's cultural significance can be expressed as follows:

Intrinsic characteristics

This single standing stone survives in an upstanding form and associated structural remains may survive around and beneath its base, telling us more about how prehistoric people positioned and secured it. Further evidence such as dating material and environmental remains may also survive and this could help us build up a picture of the prehistoric environment and more accurate date for the stone's erection.

Contextual characteristics

The monument is a good example from a widespread and numerous class of prehistoric monument, the single standing stone. It is one of the small- to medium-sized and naturally shaped examples and it sits in the Strathdon landscape among a number of other contemporary stone-built monuments including other single standing stones, stone settings, stone circles and burial cairns. The strath represents an area of extensive late-Neolithic and Bronze-Age activity where over 50 examples of standing stones are recorded (with this example sitting among a local cluster of five, in the immediate area of Tyrebagger Hill). Researchers believe the distribution of standing stones is broadly similar to that of burial cairns and that the interconnections and routes between standing stones are as important as their inherent character as focal points for ritual activity. The monument therefore has the potential to tell us more about ways in which late-Neolithic and Bronze-Age communities moved around and used this landscape for ceremony and ritual.

National Importance

The monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to make a significant contribution to our understanding of the past, in particular prehistoric standing stones and the role they played in prehistoric life and death. Comparison with local clusters and wider distributions of these monuments across NE Scotland can reveal more about the ways in which late-Neolithic and Bronze-Age people settled here and the significance they placed upon landscapes such as Strathdon. The loss of the monument would impede our ability to understand the development of late-Neolithic and Bronze-Age communities in Scotland.

References

Bibliography

About Scheduled Monuments

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).

The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.

Scheduled monument consent is required to carry out certain work, including repairs, to scheduled monuments. Applications for scheduled monument consent are made to us. We are happy to discuss your proposals with you before you apply and we do not charge for advice or consent. More information about consent and how to apply for it can be found on our website at www.historicenvironment.scot.

Find out more about scheduling and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.