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Sithean Buidhe is a Neolithic chambered cairn situated on the moorland west-southwest of Brawlbin Mains in Caithness, northern Scotland. The monument stands upon bedrock of Middle Old Red Sandstone, a foundation of conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone laid down during the Middle Devonian period. This geology is characteristic of the interior plateau of Caithness, where weathered sandstone outcrops and derived stone fragments would have provided accessible material for the cairn's construction.
The site represents a communal burial tradition established across northern Scotland during the Neolithic period, roughly 4000–3000 BCE. Chambered cairns typically comprised a stone-built chamber accessed by a passage, all enclosed within a rubble mound. Such monuments served as repositories for the cremated or inhumed remains of multiple individuals, suggesting their use across several generations.
Sithean Buidhe is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM481, acknowledging its archaeological significance and the information it may yet yield about Neolithic burial practices and settlement patterns in the far north. The monument's survival in the Caithness landscape provides tangible evidence of the region's human occupation in prehistory.
Sithean Buidhe, chambered cairn 1000m WSW of Brawlbin Mains is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM481. View the official record →
Sithean Buidhe is a Neolithic chambered cairn situated on the moorland west-southwest of Brawlbin Mains in Caithness, northern Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM481.
Sithean Buidhe, chambered cairn 1000m WSW of Brawlbin Mains dates from the neolithic period, and is classified as a chambered cairn 1000m wsw of brawlbin mains. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Sithean Buidhe, chambered cairn 1000m WSW of Brawlbin Mains 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 SM481.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Loch a'Mhuilinn,chambered cairn 300m NE of (0.5 km), Sithean Mor,long cairn 160m NW of Loch a'Mhuilinn (0.6 km), Cnoc an Ratha,fort SSE of Shurrery Kirk (0.8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Sithean Buidhe, chambered cairn 1000m WSW of Brawlbin Mains'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.
Sithean Buidhe, chambered cairn 1000m WSW of Brawlbin Mains stands on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.