Field Visit
Date 1999
Event ID 882197
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/882197
An extensive complex of earthen banks and cairns are located to the east side and tip of Tofts Ness. Within the complex are several larger mounds and groups of smaller mounds which are located in close proximity and which together form chains or enclosures. Previously, it was speculated that the majority of the mounds were likely to be funerary monuments, possibly surrounding larger Maes-Howe type tombs, however, investigations in the 1980's revealed a Bronze Age structural complex, rich midden deposits and buried cultivation soils. The results of this work are awaited and as yet there is very little known for certain about the remains in the wider landscape. Two mounds and two stone concentrations are located on the coast edge and are vulnerable to erosion. Stones protrude from the mounds, possibly indicating the presence of structural remains. The stone concentrations may represent remnant structures which have been damaged by erosion but could alternatively be the ex-situ remains of structures removed from further inland. Ref.: RCAHMS (1946), #474; RCAHMS (1980), #15; Dockrill, SJ (1985) 'Sanday (Lady parish), Tofts Ness. Settlement', DES (1985), 32; Dockrill, SJ (1986) 'Sanday, Tofts Ness. Bronze Age settlement mound', DES (1986), 22-3.
Moore & Wilson 1999.
Coastal Zone Assessment Survey, 1999
