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Gourdon Hill is a Neolithic long cairn located in Kincardineshire, Scotland. This monument represents one of the characteristic burial structures of the Neolithic period, constructed to house communal dead and serving as a focal point for early farming communities. The cairn sits on bedrock of the Arbuttnott-Garvock Group, composed of sandstone with subordinate conglomerate, siltstone and mudstone of Pragian age, geology that would have provided readily available stone for its construction.
Long cairns typically contained stone-built chambers where the remains of multiple individuals were deposited over an extended period, reflecting the social practices and beliefs of Neolithic peoples in northern Britain. The monument's position on Kincardineshire's Grampian landscape places it within a region rich in prehistoric activity, where such structures served communities practising early agriculture and herding.
Gourdon Hill is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM547, recognising its archaeological importance and status as a rare survivor of Neolithic funerary architecture. Such monuments provide invaluable evidence for understanding the organisation, beliefs and settlement patterns of Scotland's earliest farming societies.
Gourdon Hill, long cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM547. View the official record →
Gourdon Hill is a Neolithic long cairn located in Kincardineshire, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM547.
Gourdon Hill, long cairn dates from the neolithic period, and is classified as a long cairn. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Gourdon Hill, long cairn 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 SM547.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including The Cloch,cairn 1700m W of Mains of Brotherton (4.6 km), Bridgeton Hill,cairn 900m ENE of Mains of Bridgeton (4.8 km), Montgoldrum,cairns & hut circle 400m E of (6.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Gourdon Hill, long cairn'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.
Gourdon Hill, long cairn stands on Arbuthnott-Garvock Group, bedrock that formed in the Pragian. The rock here is sandstone with subordinate conglomerate, siltstone and mudstone.