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Horned Cairn is a court tomb of Neolithic date, situated near Dungannon in County Tyrone. This type of megalithic monument, characteristic of Ulster's Neolithic heritage, features a distinctive forecourt flanked by outturned arms—the 'horns' that define this architectural form. Court tombs served as communal burial chambers and ritual centres for Neolithic communities, their design reflecting both practical and ceremonial requirements.
The monument rests upon bedrock of the Tyrone Group, a Visean-age sequence of limestone, mudstone, sandstone and siltstone with subordinate bands of chert, coal and conglomerate. This underlying geology shaped the available stone resources and influenced the construction methods employed by the monument's builders. The local landscape would have provided the rubble and larger stones incorporated into the cairn's structure.
As a scheduled monument protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 15816, Horned Cairn remains an important record of Neolithic settlement and belief in this part of Ulster. The monument's survival reflects the enduring significance of these communal burial places in the archaeological record, though its original form and associated finds may be obscured by the passage of five millennia.
Horned cairn. court tomb is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 15816. View the official record →
Horned Cairn is a court tomb of Neolithic date, situated near Dungannon in County Tyrone. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 15816.
Horned cairn. court tomb dates from the neolithic period, and is classified as a megalithic tomb. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Horned cairn. court tomb is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 15816.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Crannog in carnteel lough (1 km), Carnteel church. medieval parish church & graveyard, also site of c13th battle (1.5 km), Hilltop enclosure (2.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Horned cairn. court tomb'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.
Horned cairn. court tomb stands on Tyrone Group, bedrock that formed in the Visean. The rock here is limestone, mudstone, sandstone and siltstone, with subordinate chert, coal and conglomerate.