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Long Knowe is a Neolithic long cairn situated in Roxburghshire, Scotland. The monument stands on bedrock of the Yoredale Group, geological formations dating from the Bashkirian period comprising limestone, argillaceous rocks and subordinate sandstone in interbedded sequences. This underlying geology has shaped the landscape in which the cairn was constructed and the stone available to its builders.
Long cairns of this period, typically dating between 4000 and 3000 BCE, served as communal burial monuments for Neolithic communities. Built from stone quarried or gathered locally, they represent substantial investments of communal labour and reflect the ritual significance of the dead in early farming societies. The elongated mound form distinguishes long cairns from other cairn types of the period.
The site is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under the schedule monument reference SM2154, recognising its importance as evidence of Neolithic settlement, burial practice and social organisation in the Scottish Borders. The cairn remains a substantial archaeological record of the early farming populations who inhabited this upland region of the south of Scotland.
Long Knowe,long cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2154. View the official record →
Long Knowe is a Neolithic long cairn situated in Roxburghshire, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2154.
Long Knowe,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.
Long Knowe,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 SM2154.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Medieval shieling on south bank of White Lyne 410m WSW of confluence with Little Hare Grain (7.3 km), Medieval shieling on south bank of White Lyne 230m WSW of confluence with Little Hare Grain (7.4 km), Shiel Knowe round cairn (7.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Long Knowe,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.
Long Knowe,long cairn stands on Yoredale Group, bedrock that formed in the Bashkirian. The rock here is limestone, argillaceous rocks and subordinate sandstone, interbedded.