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MHG855 - Round Cairn - Hill of Forss

Summary

Site of possible ?late neolithic-bronze age round cairn. Alternatively, a geophysical surveys and a trial trench suggest it may be an occupation site or a burnt mound.

Type and Period (3)

Protected Status

Full Description

Site of late neolithic-bronze age round cairn. Alternatively, a geophysical survey suggests it may be an occupation site or a burnt mound.

Cairn (NR) OS 6"map, (1969)

Brough (NR) OS 6"map, Caithness, 2nd ed., (1907)

This low grassy mound, about 70ft in overall diameter and 6ft in height, has appearance of a broch. It has been quarried into from the N side.
RCAHMS 1911, visited 1910.

This feature, which lies close to Thing's Va (ND06NE 1) is the grass-covered remains of a round cairn 24m in diameter by 2m in max height. It has been dug into in S side and the spoil now forms a mound just S of cairn. A stone on S edge may be a kerb stone.
Resurveyed at 1:2500. Visited by OS (R D) 16 February 1965.

A cairn comprising a sub-circular grass-covered mound, 20m N-S by 12m by 1.5m high, with stones visible. <1>

No change. Revised at 1:2500. Visited by OS (NKB) 24.8.1981.

A fluxgate gradiometer survey over the cairn was carried out by ORCA in 2017 as part of the Caithness Broch Festival Archaeology Programme, which aimed to provide the opportunity for the local community and visitors to the county to engage with their local archaeology, whilst conducting significant archaeological research. The main focus of the survey was an area around Thing's Va broch to the northeast (see MHG845), covering both the scheduled area and beyond. The field was under crop at the time, with the cairn uncultivated. The results of the survey suggested that this was likely to be a settlement site or a possible burnt mound. <2>

Archaeological trial trenches were excavated by ORCA in 2017 at the cairn and the nearby broch site (see MHG845), commissioned by the Caithness Broch Project (CBP). The trial trenches were located in order to ground-truth a number of anomalies identified in the geophysical survey carried out by ORCA in August 2017. The results of the fieldwork both varied by both nature and location. Trench 3, placed over the cairn in the arable field to the southeast of the broch, was located due to the strong magnetic responses of a kind that tend to indicate burnt mounds and domestic occupation. The excavation revealed the top of a stone structure. The strong magnetic responses, the structural element and the presence of a small burn shown on the 1st OS map all point towards an interpretation of the ‘cairn’ as a burnt mound rather than a funerary monument, although it is possible that the mound may be some other kind of ‘domestic’ building, perhaps even related to the broch. <3>

A second phase of fluxgate gradiometer survey was carried out by ORCA in 2018 around the cairn at Thing’s Va. The survey again formed part of the Caithness Broch Festival Archaeology Project. A total area of 8910m² were surveyed. The work aimed to complete a circuit of geophysical survey around the broch in order to establish the presence/ absence of an extra-mural settlement or any other potential associated archaeological remains. While the survey provided some indication of anthropogenic activity within the immediate vicinity of the broch, the nature of this could not be fully established, and it provided no evidence for the existence of an extra-mural settlement, as the majority of the survey area was relatively ‘quiet’. The survey also aimed to further characterise the adjacent cairn, establish its full extent and any potential relationship with the broch. The results suggested that potential associated remains identified previously to the east of the cairn, were more extensive than was understood, and also indicated that substantial structural remains may be present. No relationship to the broch was established, however, and further investigation would be required to understand the monument more fully. <4>

Sources/Archives (5)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred ND 0819 6821 (30m by 30m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	ND06NE
Civil Parish	THURSO
Geographical Area	CAITHNESS

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Investigations/Events (3)

External Links (1)