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Cairn with cist near Derry is a prehistoric megalithic tomb, likely dating to the Neolithic or Early Bronze Age. The monument comprises a stone cairn constructed above a cist burial chamber, a widespread burial form across northern Britain and Ireland during the prehistoric period. Such monuments typically held cremated or inhumed remains and served as focal points for small communities.
The site's location in the Derry landscape places it on Proterozoic III quartzite bedrock, formed during the Neoproterozoic era over 600 million years ago. This hard metamorphic stone would have been readily available locally, providing suitable material for the cist construction and cairn stones. The quartzite substrate is characteristic of the underlying geology of much of County Londonderry.
The monument is protected by the Historic Environment Division of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency under reference 11841, recognising its significance as a survival of prehistoric burial practice. Though the original form of the cairn may have been altered over millennia, such monuments remain important archaeological witnesses to the ritual and social structures of prehistoric communities in the north of Ireland.
Cairn with cist - megalithic tomb? is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 11841. View the official record →
Cairn with cist near Derry is a prehistoric megalithic tomb, likely dating to the Neolithic or Early Bronze Age. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 11841.
Cairn with cist - megalithic tomb? dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a megalithic tomb. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Cairn with cist - megalithic tomb? is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 11841.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Heavy anti-aircraft battery (2.1 km), C17th bawn (4.2 km), C17th windmill - ihr 02409 (4.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Cairn with cist - megalithic tomb?'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 with cist - megalithic tomb? stands on Proterozoic III quartzite, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is quartzite; undifferentiated metamorphic.