Fall Hill

NS92SE 18 963 217.

NS 963 217: Enclosed Cremation Cemetery (probable), Fall Hill. Situated 650m NE of Midlock farmhouse and 185m ESE of the cairn NS92SE 19, there are the slight remains of what has probably been an enclosed cremation cemetery. It lies at a height of 290m OD on almost level ground in a broad natural hollow between Fall Hill and rising ground to the E. The enclosure measures 16m in diameter within a low stony bank which varies from 2.1m to 3.4m in thickness and which is nowhere more than 0.3m high. The stones forming it are, with few exceptions, comparatively small in size. Round the SE arc two shallow grooves, each 0.3m in average width and depth, are clearly visible within the thickness of the bank; they lie between 0.6m and 0.8m apart and appear to be completely devoid of stones. Elsewhere, however, practically all surface traces of the grooves have disappeared, but it seems likely that they originally continued throughout the circuit.

In the absence of excavation the function of these features is not known. There is no certain evidence of an entrance, but if one existed it probably lay on the W, where for a distance of about 4 m the amount of stone in the bank is noticeably reduced.

Within the interior, but not centrally placed in relation to the enclosing bank, there is a low grass- grown stony mound, roughly circular on plan, measuring 4.3m in diameter and 0.4m in height.

In general size and appearance this site bears a close resemblance to the enclosed cremation cemetery at Weird Law, Peeblesshire (NT02SE 8).

RCAHMS 1978, visited 1975.

RCAHMS surveyed this enclosed cremation cemetery by plane-table on 7 October 1975 at a scale of 4mm:1ft. The resultant plan was redrawn in ink on 22 October 1975 at 2mm:1ft and published in the County Inventory of Lanarkshire (RCAHMS 1978) as Fig. 30.

The enclosed cremation cemetery on Fall Hill is the only example of this type of monument to be positively identified in Lanarkshire, and it lies immediately east of the bottom of the coIl between Fall Hill and Normangill Rig. It consists of a low circular bank surrounding a small cairn-like mound; the enclosure measures 16m in diameter within a stony bank which varies from 2.1m to 3.4m in thickness but only 0.3m in maximum height. An unusual feature visible in the bank, and one not seen at any other enclosed cremation cemetery, is a pair of shallow grooves, 0.6m to 0.8m apart, which are now discontinuous but originally they probably formed a complete circuit Although without excavation it is not possible to be certain of their function, it is likely that they supported upright timbers or a wattle screen. Within the enclosure, and lying a little to the northeast of the true centre, there is a grass-grown stony mound 4.3m in diameter and 0.4m in height.

Excavation has shown that these monuments are a specialised type of burial-site dating to the bronze age. Only a small number have been found in Scotland, but this is hardly surprising as they are easily confused with hut-circles (particularly where the central mound is small or absent) and, being of rather slight construction, they are prone to destruction.

The burial rite, as the name suggests, is by cremation with the comminuted bones being placed in shallow pits which are normally clustered around the centre of the enclosure and, in many cases, covered by a roughly built cairn or capping of stone. The cremations are rarely accompanied by any gravegoods, which made dating difficult before the discovery of radiocarbon dating methods, but radiocarbon assays from sites at Weird Law, Peebles and Whitestanes Moor, Dumfries have produced dates of about 1700 BC and about 1660 BC respectively.

Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: The Clyde Estuary and Central Region’, (1985).