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The Round Cairn at Larne is a Bronze Age burial monument situated on land underlain by Palaeogene extrusive rocks, mafic lava and tuff that form part of the volcanic geology characteristic of this region. The cairn represents a distinctive form of ritual burial practice dating to the second millennium BCE, when such earthen and stone monuments served as focal points for Bronze Age communities across the Irish landscape.
The monument sits within an area of considerable archaeological significance. Its location on volcanic bedrock, a product of Palaeogene volcanism, reflects the varied geology of the Larne district. The construction of substantial cairns in Bronze Age society required considerable communal effort and served both as graves for individuals of status and as enduring markers of territorial affiliation and ancestral memory.
The Round Cairn at Larne is recorded and protected by the Historic Environment Division of Northern Ireland under reference 2405. Such monuments, often plundered in antiquity or damaged through subsequent land use, preserve invaluable evidence of Bronze Age burial practice, social organisation and spiritual belief. The survival of cairns in the archaeological record provides essential understanding of communities that flourished more than three thousand years ago.
Round cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 2405. View the official record →
The Round Cairn at Larne is a Bronze Age burial monument situated on land underlain by Palaeogene extrusive rocks, mafic lava and tuff that form part of the volcanic geology characteristic of this region. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 2405.
Round cairn dates from the bronze age period, and is classified as a cairn. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Round cairn 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 2405.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Mounds (2) and neolithic & bronze age pottery and flint scatters (5.1 km), St john of kilglan, old graveyard (for children), rector of kilglan. medieval church & graveyard (5.1 km), Motte (5.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Round 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.
Round cairn stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.