Description

The monument consists of a large area of stony moorland, scattered with worked outcrops and debris associated with prehistoric stone implement manufacture, within which are located a lintelled gallery and a chambered burial cairn.

In the 1940s a lintelled gallery was recorded at HU 32669007. This has been constructed by roofing over a gully created by the removal of an outcrop of the distinctive local felsite rock to manufacture stone implements. Subsequent examination of the area has revealed a large number of working areas, liberally scattered with flakes and broken implement rough-outs. The working areas take the form of sub- circular platforms built largely out of flaking debris, and often lie in slightly sheltered locations. Implements seem to have been taken to a rough stage only on the site, prior to being removed elsewhere

for polishing. The final products were typical Neolithic polished axes and also a number of flat knives, of a type unique to Shetland. The foundations of a chambered cairn, consisting only of the kerbstones of a passage and chamber, lie within the working area, at HU32899003.

The area to be scheduled is irregular, bounded on the N by the S shore of Mill Loch and the stream which feeds it from the W, on the W by the small valley of Inni Scord, on the S by a line drawn from the NE corner of Inniscord Lochs to the N corner of Mousa Water and on the E by a line from the same N corner of Mousa Water to the shore of Mill Loch. This area, which includes the gallery, chambered cairn and

a large number of working areas, is marked in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as one of the very few positively identified stone implement working sites in Britain. As well as preserving important evidence on the stone-working techniques of the Neolithic period, its importance is enhanced by the range of artefactual evidence surviving on site, and by the potential for preserved structures, below the working debris, relating to encampments or more permanent dwellings.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the site as HU39SW 1.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland