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Hillhead is a Neolithic long cairn situated 320 metres south-west of Upper Craighill in Kincardineshire, Scotland. Built during the fourth millennium BC, this monument belongs to the class of communal burial structures characteristic of early farming communities in Britain. Long cairns served as focal points for ritual and funerary practice among the first agricultural societies, typically containing internal chambers and passages aligned to cardinal or celestial directions.
The cairn sits upon bedrock of the Arbuttnott-Garvock Group, predominantly sandstone with subordinate conglomerate, siltstone and mudstone deposits formed during the Pragian period of the Devonian. This local geology, exposed across the Mearns landscape, would have provided accessible stone for constructing the monument's substantial rubble mound. The sandstone's comparative friability means significant erosion has likely affected the cairn's original form, though its structural core remains.
The site is protected as a scheduled monument under Historic Environment Scotland reference SM4534, reflecting its national significance as evidence of Neolithic settlement and territorial practice in north-east Scotland. Such monuments remain rare surviving records of Neolithic communal values and the organisation of early farming populations in this region.
Hillhead,long cairn 320m SW of Upper Craighill is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM4534. View the official record →
Hillhead is a Neolithic long cairn situated 320 metres south-west of Upper Craighill in Kincardineshire, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM4534.
Hillhead,long cairn 320m SW of Upper Craighill dates from the neolithic period, and is classified as a long cairn 320m sw of upper craighill. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Hillhead,long cairn 320m SW of Upper Craighill 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 SM4534.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Montgoldrum,cairns & hut circle 400m E of (2.2 km), Montgoldrum,cairn 750m ENE of (2.5 km), Cairn of Arthurhouse, 260m W of Thornylea (4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Hillhead,long cairn 320m SW of Upper Craighill'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.
Hillhead,long cairn 320m SW of Upper Craighill stands on Arbuthnott-Garvock Group, bedrock that formed in the Pragian. The rock here is sandstone with subordinate conglomerate, siltstone and mudstone.