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Hillocks of Garth is a burial mound monument located in Orkney, Scotland, and is protected by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument under reference SM1276. The site comprises two earthen mounds situated approximately 70 metres south-west of the main Garth locality. These burial mounds are typical of the prehistoric funerary landscape of Orkney, which contains numerous examples of chambered cairns and barrow monuments dating from the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods.
The monument sits upon bedrock of Middle Old Red Sandstone, formed during the Middle Devonian period, comprising conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone. This locally derived red sandstone geology has shaped settlement patterns and construction practices throughout Orkney's archaeological record, as the soft stone was traditionally quarried for building material. The durable nature of these sandstone deposits has enabled the preservation of both the underlying geology and the burial monuments constructed upon it.
The Hillocks of Garth remain an important element of Orkney's funerary archaeology, contributing to our understanding of prehistoric mortuary practices and landscape use in the Northern Isles. The mounds' survival in the agricultural landscape of Orkney makes them significant records of early settlement and commemorative practice in this region, though like many burial monuments, their internal structures and original contents remain largely undocumented by modern archaeological investigation.
Hillocks of Garth, burial mounds 70m SW of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1276. View the official record →
Hillocks of Garth is a burial mound monument located in Orkney, Scotland, and is protected by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument under reference SM1276.
Hillocks of Garth, burial mounds 70m SW of 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 SM1276.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Hillock of Garth, cairn 900m S of Garth (1 km), Broch of Lingro, broch (3.5 km), Earl's Palace, Kirkwall (3.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Hillocks of Garth, burial mounds 70m SW of'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.
Hillocks of Garth, burial mounds 70m SW of stands on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.