<< Other Photo Pages >> Upper Tote - Cairn in Scotland in Isle of Skye

Submitted by davidmorgan on Thursday, 16 December 2021  Page Views: 2165

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Upper Tote Alternative Name: Tot nan Druidhean
Country: Scotland County: Isle of Skye Type: Cairn
Nearest Town: Portree
Map Ref: NG51865898
Latitude: 57.552600N  Longitude: 6.149477W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 1 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 5 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 5

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Upper Tote
Upper Tote submitted by dodomad : A Skye crofter was fined £18,000 after admitting to damaging an important historical monument on his land - the Upper Tote Cairn, thought to have been constructed during the bronze age. Photo Credit: Crown Office (Vote or comment on this photo)
A grass-covered, circular mound of stone and earth some 36ft in diameter and 9ft in height, which is probably a burial cairn. The cairn was first excavated by archaeologists in 1920, revealing the remains of a stone cist at its base, as well as a later Viking burial chamber near the top. No bones were found in the rudimentary stone cist but a large number of flints as well as fragments of charcoal were discovered, with suggestions these could have mesolithic origins. Human remains - the end of a femur and fragments of charred bone - from a Viking cremation, interred thousands of years after the original cairn was built, were also revealed at Upper Tote.

Ref: Highland Historic Environment Record - MHG5269.

Note: A Skye crofter who destroyed a Bronze Age cairn has been fined £18,000. More details in the comments on our page.
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Upper Tote
Upper Tote submitted by hamilton : This panoramic composite photograph of Tot nan Druidhean, taken from the southeast, shows the full extent of this cairn. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Upper Tote
Upper Tote submitted by hamilton : The huge cairn of Tot nan Druidhean, as seen from the west in 2016. (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Upper Tote
Upper Tote submitted by dodomad : A Skye crofter was fined £18,000 after admitting to damaging an important historical monument on his land - the Upper Tote Cairn, thought to have been constructed during the bronze age. Photo Credit: Crown Office (Vote or comment on this photo)

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Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
NG5158 : Rusty fence by the A855 at Upper Tote by Gordon Brown
by Gordon Brown
©2013(licence)
NG5159 : Forest at Farin by Russel Wills
by Russel Wills
©2020(licence)
NG5159 : Moorland near Upper Tote by Anne Burgess
by Anne Burgess
©2017(licence)
NG5159 : House at Upper Tote by John Allan
by John Allan
©2006(licence)
NG5159 : View by jeff collins
by jeff collins
©2020(licence)

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"Upper Tote" | Login/Create an Account | 2 News and Comments
  
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Scots crofter fined after digging up ancient burial site by davidmorgan on Wednesday, 15 December 2021
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A Skye crofter who destroyed an important ancient monument dating back to the bronze age has been fined £18,000.

Upper Tote Cairn is situated on the shore near Loch Snizort Beag [not really, it's 25km away on the other side of the peninsula] in the north of the island.

Excavations undertaken a century ago revealed the remains of a stone cist – thought to have been constructed as much as 5,000 years ago – at its base, as well as a later Viking burial chamber near the top.

Evidence with possible links to the stone age was also discovered at the site.

Duncan MacInnes, who owns the land where the prehistoric cairn stands, removed earth from the mound to use in a building project elsewhere on his croft.

The 59-year-old pled guilty to damaging the protected monument when he appeared at Portree Sheriff Court on 25 August.

Historic Environment Scotland (HES), the national agency responsible for the country’s heritage, had written to Mr MacInnes on three separate occasions about the existence of the cairn, with the most recent letter being sent in 2015.

HES officers also carried out routine site visits every ten years.


Mr MacInnes excavated part of the ancient monument between 1 and 12 December in 2018.

He was building a shed elsewhere on his property and needed topsoil.

Andy Shanks, Procurator Fiscal for Grampian, Highlands and Islands, said: “As the owner of the land this ancient monument sits on it was Duncan MacInnes’s duty to help protect it.


“Instead, he showed a complete disregard for its importance when he dug for soil and damaged Upper Tote Cairn.

“This prosecution shows how seriously the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service takes these crimes, and we will continue to work with Historic Environment Scotland and other partners to make sure Scotland’s history is preserved.”

The cairn was first excavated by archaeologists in 1920.

No bones were found in the rudimentary stone cist but a large number of flints as well as fragments of charcoal were discovered, with suggestions these could have mesolithic origins.

Human remains – the end of a femur and fragments of charred bone – from a Viking cremation, interred thousands of years after the original cairn was built, were also revealed at Upper Tote.

The Scotsman.
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