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Lynegar Cairn is a Bronze Age funerary monument situated on high ground in Caithness, north-east Scotland. The cairn sits on bedrock of Middle Old Red Sandstone, a conglomerate and sandstone formation deposited during the Middle Devonian period. This locally available stone would have provided material for the cairn's construction, and the elevated location offers commanding views across the surrounding landscape.
The monument is one of many cairns distributed across the Caithness uplands, reflecting the region's sustained use as burial ground during the Bronze Age and later periods. Such structures typically covered cremated or inhumed remains, often accompanied by grave goods now lost to time and weathering. The precise nature of the burials at Lynegar remains undetermined, as the cairn has not undergone modern archaeological excavation.
The site is protected by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument under reference SM465, recognising its importance as evidence of prehistoric settlement and funerary practice in the far north of Britain. The cairn survives as a tangible link to Bronze Age communities who exploited these northern upland landscapes, and the bedrock geology beneath it speaks to the deep geological history of the Scottish mainland.
Lynegar, cairn 610m NE of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM465. View the official record →
Lynegar Cairn is a Bronze Age funerary monument situated on high ground in Caithness, north-east Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM465.
Lynegar, cairn 610m NE 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 SM465.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Grey Cairn, broch 475m SE of Lynegar (0.8 km), Green Hill Broch, 40m W of Grant Hall (2.4 km), Chapel of Dunn, chapel, 300m SW of Oldhall House (3.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Lynegar, cairn 610m NE 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.
Lynegar, cairn 610m NE of stands on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.