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The grey cairns of Camster are very
appropriately named since the stones of which they are composed are
most definately grey in hue. The two cairns of very different types
stand on bleak moorland some 8 km along a single track road off the
A9. Although dead straight, the road is rises and falls with the
terrain and the cairns suddenly appear after a slight rise, and an
awesome sight they make! |
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The two cairns are complete and they are of different types
- the easterly one being a ring cairn and its sibling farther to the
west is a massive long cairn with 3 chambers. In both cases one may
enter the chambers which are lit by skylights that were placed during
their excavations when they were also restored.
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The ring cairn is 18m in diameter and
has a lintelled entrance passage of 6.1m, leading to the large
corbelled central chamber. On excavation in1865 a thick layer of black
earth was found together with charcoal, ashes with broken bones, some
broken pots and some flint implements. Several human skeleton remains
were also found.
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The long cairn measures some 70m in length and is
of the double horned type. On initial excavation in 1866, fragments of
human bones were found but no artefacts.
There are two chambers, both of which are accessible and allow access
to the inner chambers.
This cairn is one of the largest in Scotland and has been
likened to a cathedral of the time. It remains an awe inspiring site
to this day. |
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