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MHG39192 - Kerb Cairn - Fencer's Cairn, Raasay

Summary

A small kerb cairn, into which a shieling was inserted millennia later to take advantage of the raised position and supply of building material.

Type and Period (1)

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Full Description

In 2000, workmen erecting fences reported a feature. The position was visited by ACFA where a shieling set upon a mound of tumbled stones, identified as a kerbed cairn, was found. The cairn was situated on steep south facing, heather covered slope, lying 6m from a footpath that ran to the valley floor above the headwaters of the Inverarish burn and 10m south of the recently erected deer fence. The cairn was an oval spread of stone, 8m long from N- S and 6m wide. An edging of stones rising to a maximum height 0.3m delineated the southern arc of the stony spread, but the end of the shieling masked the northern edge of the cairn (seen MHG38769 for Shieling record). There was litle doubt that this was a small kerb cairn into which a shieling was inserted many millennia later, taking advantage of the dry, raised base and abundant supply of building materials. 40-50m to the west was a 2 compartment shieling lying under a large rocky outcrop (see MHG39747). <1>

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 5655 3726 (24m by 24m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NG53NE
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH
Civil Parish	PORTREE

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Related Investigations/Events (1)

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