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Clava Cairns is a Bronze Age cemetery comprising four substantial cairns situated in Nairnshire, Scotland, near Balnuarin. The monuments are distributed across the landscape at varying distances: two cairns lie 70 metres and 170 metres to the north-east of the settlement, whilst a further two stand 210 metres and 460 metres to the east-north-east. This arrangement reflects the dispersed burial practices of Bronze Age communities in the Highlands. The cairns are constructed from stone gathered from the surrounding bedrock of Middle Old Red Sandstone, a conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone formation dating to the Middle Devonian period.
The site is situated within a wider Bronze Age landscape; a barrow stands 270 metres to the north-east, and a standing stone is positioned 395 metres in the same direction, indicating a concentrated zone of ritual and funerary monuments spanning several centuries. Such multi-monument complexes are characteristic of Bronze Age territories in northern Scotland, where communities maintained persistent places of ancestral commemoration and gathering.
Clava Cairns is protected by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument under reference SM90074.
Clava Cairns, cairns 70m, 170m NE of and 210m, 460m ENE of, barrow 270m NE of, and standing stone 395m NE of Balnuarin is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM90074. View the official record →
Clava Cairns is a Bronze Age cemetery comprising four substantial cairns situated in Nairnshire, Scotland, near Balnuarin. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM90074.
Clava Cairns, cairns 70m, 170m NE of and 210m, 460m ENE of, barrow 270m NE of, and standing stone 395m NE of Balnuarin dates from the bronze age period, and is classified as a cairns 70m, 170m ne of and 210m, 460m ene of, barrow 270m ne of, and standing stone 395m ne of balnuarin. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Clava Cairns, cairns 70m, 170m NE of and 210m, 460m ENE of, barrow 270m NE of, and standing stone 395m NE of Balnuarin 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 SM90074.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Culdoich, chambered cairn and standing stone 620m S of (1.6 km), Daltullich House, enclosure 245m NE of (3 km), Mains of Daviot Farm, ring cairn and stone circle 600m NNE of (4.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Clava Cairns, cairns 70m, 170m NE of and 210m, 460m ENE of, barrow 270m NE of, and standing stone 395m NE of Balnuarin'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.
Clava Cairns, cairns 70m, 170m NE of and 210m, 460m ENE of, barrow 270m NE of, and standing stone 395m NE of Balnuarin stands on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.