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Lawers Burn is a complex of prehistoric structures and rock art in Perthshire, Scotland, comprising peat stores, domestic huts, trackways and cup-marked stones. The site exploits a landscape shaped by Neoproterozoic bedrock of the Argyll Group, where psammite, semipelite and pelite form the underlying geology. This varied solid geology would have influenced local soil quality and water drainage, affecting settlement patterns and the preservation of peat deposits that were evidently important to the communities who occupied the site.
The peat stores indicate systematic harvesting and storage of this vital fuel resource, reflecting economic practices adapted to upland Scottish conditions. The presence of huts alongside these facilities suggests sustained occupation rather than seasonal use, with residents managing their fuel supply directly at source. The trackways linking these elements reveal how inhabitants moved through and organized their immediate landscape.
The cup-marked stones represent a tradition of rock art spanning millennia in prehistoric Scotland, though their precise chronological relationship to the settlement structures remains uncertain. Collectively, the monument demonstrates how prehistoric communities in the Scottish Highlands developed integrated systems of habitation, resource management and ritual expression. The site is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under designation SM6170.
Lawers Burn, peat stores, huts and trackways, and cup-marked stones is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM6170. View the official record →
Lawers Burn is a complex of prehistoric structures and rock art in Perthshire, Scotland, comprising peat stores, domestic huts, trackways and cup-marked stones. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM6170.
Lawers Burn, peat stores, huts and trackways, and cup-marked stones is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM6170.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Lawers Mill,stone circle 320m NE of (1.3 km), Meall Odhar, peat stores, huts and trackways NE of (1.5 km), Old Lawers Village, deserted settlement and burial ground 250m NNE of Lawers Pier (2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Lawers Burn, peat stores, huts and trackways, and cup-marked stones's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Lawers Burn, peat stores, huts and trackways, and cup-marked stones stands on Argyll Group, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is psammite, semipelite and pelite.