Corrimony Chambered Cairn and Standing Stones - Corrimony, Scotland
N 57° 20.067 W 004° 41.278
30V E 398387 N 6355876
The Corrimony Chambered Cairn is an excavated passage grave of probable Bronze Age date that includes Megalithic standing stones. It is located in the small village of Corrimony in Inverness-shire, in the Highlands of Scotland.
Waymark Code: WMMBYK
Location: Northern Scotland, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/28/2014
Views: 4
This passage grave is defined by a stone kerb and is surrounded by a circle of 11 standing stones. A sign at the cairn reads:
"This monument was built about four thousand years ago and its remains are remarkably well preserved.
It is a kind of chambered tomb known as a 'passage grave'. The term is appropriate as the main features of the original monument would have been a high central chamber which was completely roofed over, and a low passage communicating with the outside world. Originally the cairn was bounded by a ring of kerbstones but these seem to have been buried as the structure collapsed.
The chamber was originally a domed or corbelled structure in which successive courses of walling sloped inwards towards the centre.
It was probably topped with a large stone slab whose remains can be found on top of the cairn today. This slab was decorated with a series of abstract designs known as 'cup marks'. Unusually, part of the passage still remains intact. It was spanned by large stone lintels and you can only enter it by crawling. Excavation in the 1950s suggested that the chamber contained just one burial, probably that of a woman. When the use of the tomb was over, a low wall was built to block the passage and the entire cairn was enclosed by a stone circle.
Passage graves like Corrimony are found around the inner Moray Firth. They may occur singly or in larger cemeteries together with monuments of others kinds (as may be the case here). They are known as 'Clava cairns' after the well-preserved examples at Blanuaran of Clava near Culloden. These are open to visitors."
Type: Stone Circle
Number: 11.00
Parking: Not Listed
Size: Not listed
Source: Not listed
Purpose: Not listed
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