The Grey Cairns of Camster
The Camster Cairns are some of the best-preserved Neolithic burial mounds in Scotland. They date from around 3500BC, and are developed sites, in that they were used over a long period of time.
Category: Burial Mounds
Steinacleit
This array of boulders marks what is left of a chambered cairn, and possibly shows the site was overlain by a huge hall. The site is 50 feet in diameter and oval in shape. The age of the site is debatable and according to different sources ranges from from 1800 – 1500 BC or 3000 – 1500 BC.
Directions: Steinacleit is at Siadar on the A857.
Barpa Langass
Barpa Langass is a Neolithic chambered cairn, which now survives as a jumbled mass of stone overlooking a moonscape of barren peatland. The cairn is roughly 16 feet high, and around 82 feet across.
Bedd Arthur
The whole area around Dyfed is associated with Arthur, outlined in the old Welsh tales now part of the Mabinogion. This cairn on the hilltop is thought to be Arthur’s Grave.
Directions: The grave is in the Prescely Mountains
Barclodiad-y-Gawres Chambered Cairn
This burial mound has five carved stones within its chamber, now capped by concrete to prevent their erosion. The stones are carved with a range of patterns including spirals cup marks and zig-zag features. The purpose of these marks is unknown, but they may have had some ritual function.
Bedd-yr-Afanc
Bedd-yr-Afanc means the monsters grave, the Afanc being a name commonly given to a water monster in Wales. The grave is actually the only Bronze Age Gallery Grave in Wales and dates from around 1500BC. Just two rows of parallel stones survive. According to legend the Afanc used to dwell in a pool by Brynberian Bridge, and was captured and killed then buried in this mound on the hillside.
Pentre Ifan
This is one of the most recognisable chambered cairns in Wales, with a huge capstone supported by the points of 3 upright stones.
Bedd Branwen
The chambered tomb called the Bedd Branwen, is said to be the resting place of Branwen, the legendary wife of Bran described in early Welsh stories.
Directions: To the East of Elim.
Bryn Celli Dhu
The name of this site translates as the mound in the dark grove. It is a developed site, which changed in ritual use and importance during the Neolithic and Bronze age period.
Kilmartin Linear Cemetery
The Kilmartin Valley is home to one of the most varied collections of prehistoric sites in the whole of Scotland. Bronze Age cairns, Neolithic chambered tombs, and enigmatic rock carvings, can all be found within a two-mile radius from Kilmartin village.
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