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Latitude: 56.1171 / 56°7'1"N
Longitude: -5.4995 / 5°29'58"W
OS Eastings: 182545
OS Northings: 697114
OS Grid: NR825971
Mapcode National: GBR DDSK.5P8
Mapcode Global: WH0HX.HHDX
Entry Name: Ri Cruin,cairn 210m S of
Scheduled Date: 14 December 1994
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Source ID: SM90247
Schedule Class: Cultural
Category: Prehistoric ritual and funerary: cairn (type uncertain)
Location: Kilmartin
County: Argyll and Bute
Electoral Ward: Mid Argyll
Traditional County: Argyllshire
The monument comprises a Bronze Age round cairn which is situated in trees 210m S of Ri Cruin.
The cairn is now largely reconstructed, having been partially excavated in 1870, 1929 and 1936. It probably measured about 18.3m by 19.5m in diameter with intermittent traces of kerb stones. The cairn is likely to have originally covered two of the visible cists; cremated bone was recovered from the N one, but no grave goods, suggesting it may have been robbed.
A third cist lies beyond the kerb on the S; its W end-slab is decorated with seven pecked axes. There was formerly a narrow vertical stone at the E end, carvings on which have been variously interpreted as a boat or halberd with a beribboned haft. Unfortunately the original was destroyed, but a replica survives in the National Museum of Scotland. The cairn was later disturbed by the building of a lime-kiln in its SW quadrant, but all trace of this feature has now been removed.
The area to be scheduled measures up to 40m from N to S by 35m, to include the cairn and an area around in which associated remains may survive, as marked in red on the attached map extract.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
The monument is of national importance because, despite the fact that the upstanding remains of the cairn have been reconstructed, it retains well defined characteristics and forms part of a rare, Bronze Age linear cemetery. This cemetery is but one part of a wider 'ritual landscape' at Kilmartin Valley which includes a henge, stone and timber circles, elaborate arrangements of standing stones and a possible Neolithic cursus. The monument therefore has the potential to provide information about Bronze Age ritual and funerary practice whilst contributing to a wider understanding of the development of Neolithic and Bronze Age social practice.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Bibliography
RCAHMS records the monument as NR 89 NW 16.
Historic Environment Scotland Properties
Ri Cruin Cairn
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/kilmartin-glen-ri-cruin-cairn
Find out more
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
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