© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic Environment Scotland
Cairnfield is a cairn located in Fife, Scotland, situated approximately 290 metres north-north-west of the settlement it neighbour. The monument is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under designation SM789. It stands on bedrock formed from the Stratheden Group, a geological formation of Late Devonian age comprising interbedded sandstone and conglomerate. This solid foundation of stone would have been familiar to the prehistoric communities who constructed such monuments across Scotland's interior.
Cairns of this type represent some of Scotland's most enduring archaeological features, typically erected during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods as burial monuments or territorial markers. The Stratheden bedrock's natural stone resources would have been readily available for construction, allowing builders to source materials locally. The substantial stone cairn form provided durable shelter for human remains and grave goods, preserving them across millennia.
The cairn's survival in the Fife landscape reflects both its robust construction and its remote positioning away from intensive agricultural development. Such monuments served important functions in Bronze Age communities, marking burial sites and anchoring communities to their landscape. The Stratheden Group's distinctive geology creates distinctive outcrops across this region, providing geological context for understanding prehistoric settlement patterns and resource availability in central Scotland.
Cairnfield, cairn 290m NNW of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM789. View the official record →
Cairnfield is a cairn located in Fife, Scotland, situated approximately 290 metres north-north-west of the settlement it neighbour. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM789.
Cairnfield, cairn 290m NNW of 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 SM789.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Glenorkie, barrows 300m SSE of (3.9 km), Forthar Cottage, enclosure 200m W of (4.3 km), Nether Drums, fort 300m NW of (5.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Cairnfield, cairn 290m NNW of'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.
Cairnfield, cairn 290m NNW of stands on Stratheden Group, bedrock that formed in the Late Devonian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.