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Sithean Mor is a Neolithic long cairn situated 160 metres north-west of Loch a'Mhuilinn in Caithness, Scotland. The monument stands on bedrock of Middle Old Red Sandstone, a sequence of conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone formed during the Middle Devonian period. This substantial geological foundation would have been visible to Neolithic communities as outcropping stone, potentially informing their choice of location for this communal burial monument.
Long cairns of this period typically served as focal points for collective burial and ritual activity across several centuries. Their elongated form, oriented broadly east–west, reflects the architectural conventions of Neolithic monumental building in northern Britain. The Caithness landscape, with its extensive peat moorland and rocky outcrops, contains several examples of these cairns, which represent some of the earliest monumental structures in the region.
The site is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM482, recognising its significance as a scheduled monument. Sithean Mor contributes to our understanding of Neolithic settlement patterns and ritual practices in this distinctive northern landscape, where communities adapted to the challenging terrain and climate while maintaining connections to broader architectural traditions of their era.
Sithean Mor,long cairn 160m NW of Loch a'Mhuilinn is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM482. View the official record →
Sithean Mor is a Neolithic long cairn situated 160 metres north-west of Loch a'Mhuilinn in Caithness, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM482.
Sithean Mor,long cairn 160m NW of Loch a'Mhuilinn dates from the neolithic period, and is classified as a long cairn 160m nw of loch a'mhuilinn. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Sithean Mor,long cairn 160m NW of Loch a'Mhuilinn 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 SM482.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Loch a'Mhuilinn,chambered cairn 300m NE of (0.4 km), Sithean Buidhe, chambered cairn 1000m WSW of Brawlbin Mains (0.6 km), Torr Mor,cairn 500m NNE of Beinn Freiceadain,Brawlbin (0.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Sithean Mor,long cairn 160m NW of Loch a'Mhuilinn'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 Mor,long cairn 160m NW of Loch a'Mhuilinn stands on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.