Clava Cairns
The Clava cairns, just a few miles from Culloden Battlefield, are some of the best preserved burial mounds on the Scottish mainland. They are thought to date from the Neolithic or late Stone Age period but may have been in use up until the Bronze Age. At approximately 4000 years old these monuments are likely to remain enigmatic but we can be sure they were an important site in the ritual and ceremonial life of these early farmers.
There are 3 main burial mounds on the site all of which show an impressive effort and skill in their construction. Two of the tombs have passageways leading in to them, both of which are aligned precisely with the point on the horizon where the sun sets on midwinter's day. All of the tombs are of a similar construction with a bank of kerbstones supporting walls made of loosely piled rock, the inside of the chambers are quite finely constructed and although the roofs are now missing from all of them it is clear how each layer of stone would come in slightly towards the centre, forming a beehive shape, most likely with a large capstone on the top. Each mound has an accompanying circle of standing stones surrounding it.
It is not clear whether these tombs were used for community burials with the bodies being defleshed before the bones were stacked up inside or whether they were used by specific families or perhaps important individuals. Carvings are also to be found both inside and outside the chambers and also on the standing stones around. These are generally of the type described as 'cup and ring' marks, simple hollows with one or more rings around them. The symbol is common across Scotland on burial mounds, standing stones and exposed patches of bedrock - clearly a very significant symbol to our early ancestors.
Whilst at Clava Cairns:
Tours that may visit Clava Cairns include:
Other places that may be of interest:
