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Latitude: 58.2215 / 58°13'17"N
Longitude: -3.4766 / 3°28'35"W
OS Eastings: 313361
OS Northings: 926807
OS Grid: ND133268
Mapcode National: GBR K7S0.25K
Mapcode Global: WH5D9.KMQ6
Entry Name: Clais-Cairn,chambered cairn 550m SW of
Scheduled Date: 11 December 1933
Last Amended: 24 May 1993
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Source ID: SM424
Schedule Class: Cultural
Category: Prehistoric ritual and funerary: chambered cairn
Location: Latheron
County: Highland
Electoral Ward: Wick and East Caithness
Traditional County: Caithness
The monument is a chambered cairn and consists of a low stone cairn with traces of a chamber in the centre. The cairn measures 17.5m N-S by 15m E-W and on the N side survives to a maximum height of 1.6m. The cairn is grass-grown, but where the cairn material can be observed it appears to consist of horizontal thin slabs. The entrance passageway to the chamber cannot be traced, but it probably ran from the SE side. A pair of large upright slabs facing in this direction have the appearance of portal stones. 5 or 6 other upright stones form part of the chamber, which may have been as much as 7m long. The area to be scheduled measures 40m SW-NE by 45m SE-NW, to include the chambered cairn and an area around in which traces of activities associated with the construction and use of the cairn will survive
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
The monument is of national importance for its potential contribution to an understanding of Neolithic and Bronze Age burial and ritual practices. Much of the chamber and cairn survive at this site and information on the architecture of prehistoric tombs and burial deposits are preserved.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Bibliography
The site is RCAHMS number ND 12 NW 10.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
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