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Boath, three chambered cairns north east and NNE of Easter Ballone Farm

A Scheduled Monument in Cromarty Firth, Highland

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Coordinates

Latitude: 57.7319 / 57°43'54"N

Longitude: -4.3839 / 4°23'1"W

OS Eastings: 258151

OS Northings: 873843

OS Grid: NH581738

Mapcode National: GBR H8K9.0N0

Mapcode Global: WH3CX.MXNK

Entry Name: Boath, three chambered cairns NE and NNE of Easter Ballone Farm

Scheduled Date: 11 April 1997

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Source ID: SM6644

Schedule Class: Cultural

Category: Prehistoric ritual and funerary: chambered cairn

Location: Alness

County: Highland

Electoral Ward: Cromarty Firth

Description

The monuments to the NNE of Easter Ballone farm consist of the remains of three chambered cairns of neolithic date.

The first and southernmost of these chambered cairns, known as Balnagrotchen, may have been a short horned cairn and has a polygonal burial chamber. It lies on the edge of a field on a terrace to the NE of the farm. Repeated ploughing has largely removed the cairn material and the monument now appears to be square in plan.

The second, middle, cairn, known as Cairn Liatha, is a long horned cairn orientated NE-SW that has been extensively robbed and now measures 60m SSW-NNE by 16m NNW-SSE. It lies due N of the first cairn, across the road. The third, northernmost, cairn lies to the NE of Cairn Liatha and is a short horned cairn with a polygonal burial chamber. It measures approximately 30m E-W by 46m.

The area to be scheduled is in three parts. At the southernmost cairn a circular area 60m in diameter, excluding the above-ground elements of the pylon which stands on the cairn; at the middle cairn an irregular area measuring a maximum of 95m ENE-WSW by 70m, ending just short of the fenceline on the W side of the cairn, and at the northernmost cairn an irregular area measuring a maximum of 90m N-S by 70m E-W, bounded on the E by a fenceline and on the NW and SW by tracks. These areas are shown in red on the accompanying map extract.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

These three chambered cairns are each of national importance as a small group of Neolithic burial monuments belonging to Henshall's Orkney-Cromarty group. They gain added importance from the fact that they form a small close group of apparently varied constructional detail, offering the opportunity for comparative study which could contribute to the understanding of the range and development of prehistoric funerary architecture and ritual activity.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NH 57 SE 1.

Reference:

Henshall, A. (1972) The Chambered Cairns of Scotland, Vol. 1, 336 and 339-342.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

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