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Latitude: 57.0954 / 57°5'43"N
Longitude: -2.8625 / 2°51'44"W
OS Eastings: 347839
OS Northings: 800819
OS Grid: NJ478008
Mapcode National: GBR WN.71YP
Mapcode Global: WH7N9.0X6H
Entry Name: Balnacraig,long cairn 260m NNW of
Scheduled Date: 31 May 1989
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Source ID: SM4683
Schedule Class: Cultural
Category: Prehistoric ritual and funerary: long cairn
Location: Aboyne and Glen Tanar
County: Aberdeenshire
Electoral Ward: Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside
Traditional County: Aberdeenshire
The monument is a long burial cairn of the Neolithic period, some 5000 years old. It comprises a substantial pile of bare tumbled stones and some turf covered stones, measuring a maximum of 40m long and 2.5m in height. There are the remains of a forecourt 16m across bounded by the remains of "horns" of stone at the E end. The cairn will cover burials and funerary structures. The area to be scheduled measures 50m E-W by 40m transversely, to include the cairn and an area around it in which traces of activity associated with the construction and use of the cairn will survive, as marked in red on the attached map. The modern field wall which crosses the W end of the scheduled area is specifically excluded from the scheduling.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
The monument is of national importance as an example of a rarely preserved monument type, which has the potential to enhance considerably our understanding of prehistoric burial and ceremonial practices. The features of the E end (including the 'horn' of the cairn), where most of the activity would have taken place, are particularly well preserved.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Bibliography
RCAHMS records the monument as NJ 40 SE 43.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
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