Aberdeenshire HER - NJ41SW0004 - CAIRNBEG

Main Details

Primary ReferenceNJ41SW0004
NameCAIRNBEG
NMRS Card No.NJ41SW4
NMRS Numlink17163
Site Form Standing Structure
Site Condition Incomplete
Details Several tumuli on this hill are described in the OS Name Book (1868), some of which had been opened several years before 1868 and found to contain bones. These 'tumuli' are similar to several stone clearance heaps around a ruined croft. On the hill top circa 30m to the south of the tumuli is a vague, roughly circular bank with stone clearance has been dumped inside it. Although an excellent position for a cairn it is probably associated with the ruined croft. RCAHMS site visit 1997 recorded a robbed burial-cairn, a scatter of small cairns and a group of ring-ditch houses situated on the crest of the ridge known as Cairnbeg Hill. The robbed cairn, measuring 20m in diameter over a rim of cairn material 0.5m in height, is situated on the summit of the hill. The main concentration of cairns lies in a strip that runs along the crest of the ridge from a point 90m south of the large burial-cairn to a point 190m northeast of the cairn. Further small cairns are scattered on the broken ground to the east of the large cairn, and a thin scatter towards the southwest end of the ridge suggests that prior to agricultural improvements, particularly on the summit of the hill, the area occupied by the cairns was much more extensive. Situated about 60m north-northeast of the large cairn are the remains of at least two, and probably three, ring-ditch houses set in a row. The central house (NJ 4018 1314) is the largest, measuring 8m in diameter over a ditch up to 2.6m in breadth and 0.2m high. There is a grass-grown external bank up to 5m in thickness and 0.2m in height, broken by a narrow entrance on the southeast. The second ring-ditch house (NJ 4019 1316), immediately to the northeast, measures about 7.8m in diameter over a ring-ditch up to 2.5m in breadth and 0.1m in depth. There is a grass-grown external bank (3m in thickness and 0.1m in height) which is broken by an entrance on the southeast. The third probable ring-ditch house (NJ 4017 1313) measures about 6m in diameter within a grass-grown bank up to 3m in thickness and 0.1m in height, and the entrance is on the southeast. Although the bank is comparable to those of the other two houses, in this case no trace of an internal ring-ditch can be seen.
Last Update07/10/2020

National Grid Reference: NJ 4013 1306


Easting: 8602, Northing: 6300

Compiler 
Date of Compilation 

Event Details


Excavations and Surveys


Artefact and Ecofact


Ecofact

Samples 
Palynology 
Ecofact Notes 

Monument Types

Monument Type 1Monument Type 2Monument Type 3OrderProbability
HUT-CIRCLES REMAINS OFH100
CAIRNS SITE OFA100
BONESHUMAN B100
CAIRNSSMALLCLEARANCEC100
CROFTS REMAINS OFD100
CAIRNS REMAINS OFE70
BANKSCIRCULAR F100
STONES CLEARANCEG100

Google Map for NJ41SW0004


National Status

Regional Status


Photo Details


Bibliographic Detail

Bib Ref NoTitleAuthorDateOthersEditorPublishedDetailsDate MDate Y
01656Ordnance Name Book    EDINBURGHNo56(1868) 16  

Location

Historic Administrative Area Name Strathdon
Positional Accuracy Centred at
Buffer Zone 15-20m
Buffer Type Bespoke
Capture Scale Unknown
Spatial Feature Type Polygon: Unknown Extent

Environment

Constraints Privately owned, access by arrangement - difficult access.
Altitude344
Geology 
Topography Summit
Aspect 1360
Aspect 2 Open
Current Land Use Grouse Moor
Vegetation Dry Heath: Ling heather, bell heather, lichen rich, no cotton grass.
Soil Type 
Hydrology 

Measurements

Plan 
Shape 1 Circular
Shape 2 Solid
Diameter18
Length 
Width 
Thickness 
Depth 
Area 
Height 

Historic Land Use


Period Details

PeriodOrderProbabilityRadiocarbon DatesDate BuiltDate of DestructionDate of Loss
Prehistoric period uncertain A100    
Post-Medieval (from 1560 AD) B100    

Period Notes

Period Notes

Architect Details

Architect Details

Maritime Archaeology

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