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Cairn Reain is a Neolithic chambered cairn situated in Caithness, Scotland. Built during the Neolithic period, roughly between 4000 and 3000 BC, this monument represents one of the most distinctive funerary traditions of prehistoric Britain. The cairn's construction would have involved the deliberate stacking of stone to create a substantial mound, within which a stone-built chamber provided a communal burial space for multiple individuals over successive generations.
The monument sits upon bedrock of Middle Old Red Sandstone, formed during the Middle Devonian period. This geology shaped both the construction materials available to the builders and the landscape character of Caithness. The conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone comprising the local bedrock would have influenced the stone types employed in the cairn's structure and the drainage patterns of the site.
Cairn Reain is protected by Historic Environment Scotland and is registered under reference SM435, reflecting its significance as an archaeological monument of national importance. The survival of this chambered cairn provides valuable evidence of Neolithic settlement patterns, burial practices and the monumental investment communities made in their dead across the far north of Scotland during the early prehistoric period.
Cairn Reain, chambered cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM435. View the official record →
Cairn Reain is a Neolithic chambered cairn situated in Caithness, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM435.
Cairn Reain, chambered cairn dates from the neolithic period, and is classified as a chambered cairn. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Cairn Reain, chambered cairn 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 SM435.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Cairn of Get, chambered cairn, cairns and cists (3.2 km), Broughwhin, cairn and stone row 190m NW of Groat's Loch (3.3 km), Cairn Hanach,chambered cairn S side of Warehouse Hill (3.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Cairn Reain, chambered cairn'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.
Cairn Reain, chambered cairn stands on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.