Stone chamberless Long Cairns

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The stone chamberless Long Cairns in Scotland and Northern England form a group of un- or semi- megalithic , monumental burial mounds that are part of British megalithic architecture. About 28 Longcairns in northern and 21 in southern Scotland show no external evidence of built-in stone chambers. To prove the existence of wooden chambers under the stone mounds was impossible without excavation. The exact distribution of the group of monuments is difficult to determine. Among the Cairns, three are noteworthy and at least partially excavated:

All have narrow rectangular chambers, the positions of which are marked by wooden posts. The latter two are particularly interesting because stone chambers were built into the mounds at a later date. These make connections and overlaps of ideas visible that can only be assumed through the creation of types.

The investigation of Lochhill, a seemingly chamberless cairn, revealed a primary wood structure based on three large post pits, with a flat concave exedra formed by stone orthostats. The wooden structure was burned down and a trapezoidal cairn was erected, possibly in two stages. An uncalibrated 14C date from the late 4th millennium BC. BC comes from the floor of the wooden structure. Connections to Longbarrows in the south and east also with England and with the Clyde tombs are evident. Only small amounts of corpse burn could be recovered.

Their existence is significant for the architectural history of Scotland. The north is an area where primarily passage tombs occur in Rundcairns (the Orkney -Cromarty-Type - OC). Multi-period systems like Tulach an tSionnaich demonstrate that both forms are used by the same communities. Some round cairns, such as Camster's , were built over by long cairns, so that the round hills here represent the older form. Many chambered stone mounds and those with stone chambers have concave courtyards reminiscent of those built in timber (Haddenham and Street House ) in Yorkshire centuries ago .

literature

  • Frances Lynch: Megalithic Tombs and Long Barrows in Britain (= Shire Archeology. 73). Shire Publications, Princes Risborough 1997, ISBN 0-7478-0341-2 .
  • Stuart Pigott: Excavation of the Dalladies long barrow, Fettercairn, Kincardineshire. In: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Volume 104, 1971, pp. 23-47, ( digital version (PDF; 4.15 MB) ).