Achaidh Cairn
Achaidh Cairn (also called Achu; English Cairn Of The Red Dog or Rivra) is a Cairn of the Orkney Cromarty type (OC), west of Dornoch , about 1.6 km north of the Dornoch Firth in Sutherland in Scotland . Dùn an Achaidh lies on Coll .
The short, four-horned cairn with the polygonal chamber of around 2.8 × 2.1 m reaches a maximum height of around 1.5 m behind the chamber. The cairn measures 16.0 to 17.0 m between the horns.
The cairn excavated by Alexander Ormiston Curle (1866–1955) in 1909 was no longer intact, but still reached a height of 2.3 m. Since then, it has continued to be stripped of its stones, particularly on the north side. In the chamber there was a layer of sand over a stone floor. A flint scraper and edge shard, probably from the Iron Age, as well as the unburned skeleton of an adult with some partially burned bone fragments (possibly from animals) were found in the sand layer .
Allt nan Eun Cairn, Fairy Glen Cairn and Kyleoag Cairn are less than half a mile away. To the north of Dornoch is the Embo Street tumulus with a stone box .
The Dùn an Achaidh is located on the Hebridean island of Coll .
literature
- Audrey S. Henshall, JN Graham Ritchie: The Chambered Cairns of Sutherland. An inventory of the structures and their contents . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 1995, ISBN 0-7486-0609-2 . Pp. 79-80
Web links
- Description and pictures - scotlandsplaces.gov.uk (English)
- Description and pictures - megalithic.co.uk (English)
- Entry on Achaidh Cairn in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland's database
Coordinates: 57 ° 53 '24.1 " N , 4 ° 14' 33.1" W.