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Exmoor Cairns to get protective covering

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moss M
moss Jul 28, 2005 14:30:18
Replying to Ishmael

Local tv news last night said that the NT would only use a natural covering of turf and heather. It showed children playing atop the cairns and chucking stones around, but said that the burials had not been touched. It looks like a cairn that has had stone added over time for one reason or another...

T The Eternal
The Eternal Jul 28, 2005 23:01:33
Replying to moss

Moss,
The problems with stones in Cumbria (and probably Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Scotland, and any other walkink/climbing areas) is that very reason: adults and children pull them apart. In some cases the cairn is moved substantially, or reduced into a small pile, covering a greater area. Who's to say if there's a burial, or if that burial is diturbed. Sometimes the centre of the cairn is cleared to the ground. Then the tread of feet uncovers the top soil - then what?
It's all part of the same problem - especially with non-excavated cairns, which are subject to educated guesswork as to what they contain.
Regards,
TE.