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Dun Burn is a cairn located 200 metres north-east of An Dun Broch in Caithness, north Scotland. The monument sits on bedrock of the Moine Supergroup, a sequence of metamorphic psammite dating from the Neoproterozoic era, which underlies much of the far north of Scotland. The cairn dates to the Iron Age and forms part of a landscape dense with prehistoric activity, its proximity to the broch suggesting settlement and ritual activity concentrated in this particular locality.
The monument is a scheduled historic monument, protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM447. Cairns of this period typically served as burial markers or ritual monuments, often constructed by communities whose settlements clustered around defensive structures such as brochs. The specific topography and geology of this Caithness setting would have influenced the choice of materials available for construction and the strategic positioning of the monument within the broader settlement pattern.
Today, the cairn remains an important archaeological record of Iron Age Caithness, contributing to understanding of the social organisation and land use of communities in this remote northern region during the pre-Roman Iron Age.
Dun Burn, cairn 200m NE of An Dun Broch is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM447. View the official record →
Dun Burn is a cairn located 200 metres north-east of An Dun Broch in Caithness, north Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM447.
Dun Burn, cairn 200m NE of An Dun Broch dates from the iron age period, and is classified as a cairn 200m ne of an dun broch. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Dun Burn, cairn 200m NE of An Dun Broch 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 SM447.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Langwell Castle or Achastle,230m E of Langwell House (2.6 km), Tulloch Turnal, broch 500m WNW of Turnal Rock, Langwell (2.6 km), Langwell House,cairn 400m SW of,Berriedale (2.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Dun Burn, cairn 200m NE of An Dun Broch'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.
Dun Burn, cairn 200m NE of An Dun Broch stands on Moine Supergroup, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is psammite.