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Garafad is a Neolithic chambered cairn located in Inverness-shire, some 100 metres west of Cadha Riach. Built during the Neolithic period, this monument represents the communal burial tradition that characterised prehistoric Scotland's farming communities, when stone-built chambers were constructed beneath earthen or stone mounds to serve as collective tombs across generations.
The cairn sits upon bedrock formed from a Palaeogene mafic igneous intrusion, the darker, iron-rich volcanic rock that underlies this part of the Highlands. This geological foundation would have been familiar to the monument's builders, whose quarrying and working of local stone tied them closely to the landscape's character.
The site is protected by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument (SM3519), recognising its archaeological significance as one of Scotland's most distinctive Neolithic structures. Chambered cairns such as Garafad are crucial to understanding the ritual practices, social organisation and settlement patterns of early farming societies in the north.
Garafad,chambered cairn 100m W of Cadha Riach is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM3519. View the official record →
Garafad is a Neolithic chambered cairn located in Inverness-shire, some 100 metres west of Cadha Riach. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM3519.
Garafad,chambered cairn 100m W of Cadha Riach dates from the neolithic period, and is classified as a chambered cairn 100m w of cadha riach. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Garafad,chambered cairn 100m W of Cadha Riach 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 SM3519.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Garafad School,homestead 740m NE of (0.2 km), Garafad,depopulated settlement,Kilmuir (0.3 km), Staffin House, shell midden 1050m NNE of (1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Garafad,chambered cairn 100m W of Cadha Riach'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.
Garafad,chambered cairn 100m W of Cadha Riach stands on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic igneous-rock.