Description

The monument comprises a large univallate enclosure. Likely to be of Iron-age date (around late 1st millennium BC/early 1st millennium AD), the enclosure is situated on the southern flank of Clint Hill at about 120m above sea level, 370m W of the farm at Scalewood.

Preserved as a buried feature and visible only on aerial photographs, the well-defined ditch is 3m wide and encloses an oval area measuring about 60m from NNW to SSE by 50m transversely. The enclosure sits just off a ridge on a gentle SW-facing slope, with an entrance that is 6m wide to the south-east. Several possible scooped yards are shown on the aerial photograph within the enclosure; one is in the south-west, one is just north of the centre, and another is to the north-east. The field in which the monument is situated was ploughed in the past and is currently under grass. Field drainage appears to clip the N edge of the enclosure.

The area to be scheduled is a clipped circle on plan, to include the enclosure, its ditch, and an area around within which evidence relating to its construction and use may survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduled area extends up to, but excludes the fences to the north and south of the enclosure.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

Cultural Significance

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

Intrinsic characteristics

As a negative (buried) feature visible in the form of a cropmark on a range of aerial photographs, the enclosure is a good example of a univallate defended settlement, likely to be late 1st millennium BC or early 1st millennium AD in date, surviving in an area of agricultural activity. Although the enclosure has been cultivated, evidence relating to domestic structures and economy may be preserved as buried deposits inside the enclosure. It is likely that a bank would have lain inside of the ditch, and potential exists for a buried soil to be preserved both beneath the ploughed-out remains of the bank and within the ditch, providing evidence of the environment within which the settlement was built. The ditch may contain deposits and archaeological features relating to the construction and occupation of the site, and its association with possible surrounding field systems. Entrances into enclosures are usually towards the downhill side of the monument, and thus this site with its contour-aligned entrance may further our understanding of the local settlement morphology.

Contextual characteristics

This enclosure has the capacity to contribute towards a better understanding of univallate settlements, particularly those sited on the flanks of hills and along the sides of valleys, characteristic of the wider distribution of Iron-age sites in eastern Dumfries and Galloway. Comparing and contrasting the enclosure to other nearby examples (as Iron-age enclosures tend to be constructed in close proximity to each other) can enable an understanding of how such sites are positioned within the landscape, as well as provide enhanced contexts for the Iron-age economy and structure of society. Information gained from the preservation and study of this site can be used to gain an insight into the wider knowledge of Iron-age enclosed settlement across Scotland.

National Importance

The monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to make a significant addition to the understanding of the past, in particular, a type of monument that characterises the wider Iron-age domestic landscape. It forms an intrinsic element of the later prehistoric settlement pattern along the River Annan and Mein Water. Domestic remains and artefacts from settlements have the potential to tell us about wider prehistoric society, its architecture, how people lived, where they came from, who they had contacts with, and may also provide evidence of native-Roman interaction. Archaeological deposits preserved within the ditch and interior of the monument may provide information about what the contemporary environment looked like, and how it was being managed by the prehistoric farmers who lived here. Spatial analysis of sites may inform our understanding of patterns of landholding and the expansion of settlement. Its loss would impede our ability to understand the placing of such monuments (particularly those on the flanks of hills and along the sides of valleys) within the landscape both in eastern Dumfries and Galloway and across Scotland, as well as our knowledge of Iron-age social structure, economy, and building practices.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the site as NY17NE 4.

References:

RCAHMS 1997, EASTERN DUMFRIESSHIRE: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE, Edinburgh: HMSO, No. 794, 143, 302.

11968

RCAHMS record the site as NY18SW 62.

References:

RCAHMS 1997, EASTERN DUMFRIESSHIRE: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE, Edinburgh:HMSO, No 1008, 150, 151, 305.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland