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Cairnshee Wood cairn is a prehistoric burial monument located 750 metres south-south-west of Cairnshee in Kincardineshire, north-east Scotland. The cairn sits upon bedrock of the Argyll Group, a sequence of metamorphic rocks—psammite, semipelite and pelite—formed during the Neoproterozoic period over 600 million years ago. This ancient geology provided the stone-built framework typical of Bronze Age funerary practices in the north-east Scottish Highlands.
The monument is scheduled for protection by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM4810, recognising its archaeological significance as part of the regional cairn landscape. Such monuments were constructed as communal or individual burial structures, often incorporating cist burials within their stone matrices and sometimes accompanied by pottery and metalwork goods.
The location within Cairnshee Wood, set within the rolling Kincardineshire terrain, represents an important focal point in the prehistoric use of the landscape. The survival of this cairn reflects the enduring physical record of early Bronze Age funerary traditions in this part of Scotland, where similar monuments cluster across the moorland and woodland soils overlying the metamorphic bedrock.
Cairnshee Wood,cairn 750m SSW of Cairnshee is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM4810. View the official record →
Cairnshee Wood cairn is a prehistoric burial monument located 750 metres south-south-west of Cairnshee in Kincardineshire, north-east Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM4810.
Cairnshee Wood,cairn 750m SSW of Cairnshee 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 SM4810.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Cairnshee,enclosure 440m SW of (0.5 km), Cairnshee,field system & farmstead 700m WSW of (0.7 km), Cairnfauld, stone circle 120m NNE of (1.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Cairnshee Wood,cairn 750m SSW of Cairnshee'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.
Cairnshee Wood,cairn 750m SSW of Cairnshee stands on Argyll Group, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is psammite, semipelite and pelite.