<< Our Photo Pages >> The Cairns - Cairn in Scotland in Orkney
Submitted by howar on Tuesday, 26 May 2009 Page Views: 4176
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: The Cairns Alternative Name: Hall of IrelandCountry: Scotland County: Orkney Type: Cairn
Nearest Town: Stromness Nearest Village: Stenness
Map Ref: HY29050987
Latitude: 58.970093N Longitude: 3.23561W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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HY20NE 1 Might as well call it a cairnfield. A 100m by 50m (approx) bit of 'waste' land near the cliff edge containing lots of small hillocks of stone with no apparent arrangement, though the 1998 coastal survey has a 54m by 30m N/S platform some 3m high which it identifies as the 'Danish fort' of tradition i.e. late Viking or early mediaeval (I don't see how a defensive structure this size could escape historical or edda mention myself). Said platform looked to rise slightly towards the edges, as if banked (visible stones seen as perhaps revetment wall). The survey also mentioned a small mound to the platforms SE as probably artificial and a curving earthen banked enclosure some 50m by 10m lying between the platform and the cliffs - bone pins are reported to have been found where The Cairns near the cliff edge. Strangely the most obvious defensive feature is not mentioned - as I approached from Corn Hillock at the north end runs a long deep trench like a burn that has been made into a rather rough slipway, some stones apparent in the sides. At two places I managed to scramble up the cliff. Nothing doing. At a third looking back from the south The Cairns only had a few stones visible but there is a rather small peak near the centre of the profile. The earliest reports are of the biggest mound, some 8m across and 1m high, as the most northerly. The 1882 O.S. shows a mound at the end furthest from the sea (the east end), much diminished by 1903, which the coastal survey associates with the 1880 ONB 'castle' of turf-covered earth and stones that they believe to be their platform (and ? linked features).
An archaeologist is of the opinion that in the coastal survey EASE sometimes firmed up their site typings more than is warranted and the fact that Cummi Howe, Corn Hillock and The Cairns are equidistant lead me to suspect this place is multi-period.
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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
633m WNW 295° Corn Hillock* Cairn (HY28481015)
999m WNW 301° Cummi Howe* Broch or Nuraghe (HY282104)
1.8km NW 304° Howe Chambered Tomb* Chambered Tomb (HY276109)
2.0km NNW 337° Unstan* Chambered Cairn (HY28291172)
2.1km NNW 335° Diamond Cottage* Promontory Fort / Cliff Castle (HY28211176)
2.1km NNE 33° Standing Stones Hotel* Chambered Cairn (HY30251165)
2.7km NW 315° Deepdale Stones* Standing Stone (Menhir) (HY272118)
2.7km WSW 248° Quoyelsh* Ancient Village or Settlement (HY265089)
3.0km NW 308° Deepdale Cottages* Standing Stones (HY267118)
3.1km N 4° Possible large stone circle in Loch of Stenness Stone Circle (HY2933112934)
3.1km NNE 30° Stenness* Stone Circle (HY30671252)
3.1km N 6° Fairy Well (Stenness)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (HY2943212982)
3.1km NNE 27° Watch Stone (Orkney)* Standing Stone (Menhir) (HY30551264)
3.2km NNE 22° Brodgar Farm Standing Stones* Standing Stones (HY303128)
3.2km NE 43° Barnhouse Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (HY31271217)
3.2km NNE 24° Lochview Mound* Cairn (HY304128)
3.2km NNE 20° Brodgar Farm Chambered Tomb Chambered Tomb (HY302129)
3.3km NNE 20° Ness of Brodgar* Ancient Village or Settlement (HY3024312941)
3.3km NNE 30° Barnhouse Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (HY30761270)
3.4km N 5° South Knowe* Artificial Mound (HY29411328)
3.4km N 3° Salt Knowe* Round Barrow(s) (HY293133)
3.5km N 9° Comet Stone (Orkney)* Standing Stone (Menhir) (HY2963413318)
3.5km N 5° Ring of Brodgar* Stone Circle (HY29451335)
3.6km N 8° Fresh Knowe* Long Barrow (HY29601339)
3.7km N 6° Plumcake Mound* Round Barrow(s) (HY295135)
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