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Dunnet is a pair of Iron Age cairns located on the western side of the Dunnet-Castleton Road in Caithness, north-east Scotland. The monuments stand on bedrock of Middle Old Red Sandstone, comprising conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone laid down during the Middle Devonian period. This geology is characteristic of the interior Moray Firth Basin and forms the underlying landscape across much of Caithness.
The two cairns are typical of the Iron Age funerary tradition in the far north of Scotland, a period spanning roughly 800 BC to AD 400. Such stone-built mounds served as burial monuments and often marked the final resting places of individuals or families of some social standing. The pairing of these cairns suggests they may have belonged to a small funerary cluster within the local community.
The site is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM448, reflecting its archaeological significance as evidence of Iron Age settlement and burial practice in Caithness. The cairns contribute to the archaeological record of a region where burial monuments of this period remain an important source of understanding Iron Age societies in northern Britain.
Dunnet,two cairns on W side of Dunnet-Castleton Road is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM448. View the official record →
Dunnet is a pair of Iron Age cairns located on the western side of the Dunnet-Castleton Road in Caithness, north-east Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM448.
Dunnet,two cairns on W side of Dunnet-Castleton Road dates from the iron age period, and is classified as a two cairns on w side of dunnet-castleton road. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Dunnet,two cairns on W side of Dunnet-Castleton Road 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 SM448.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Ring Hillock, cairn 280m S of Breezy Brae (3.9 km), Trothanmas Hillock,cairn,Netherside,Castletown (3.9 km), Olrig House,broch 300m E of (4.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Dunnet,two cairns on W side of Dunnet-Castleton Road'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.
Dunnet,two cairns on W side of Dunnet-Castleton Road stands on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.