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On my megalithic tours, whenever I visit a megalithic tomb, I’m always glad when I’m the only visitor and have the site all to myself, so I can let it work its magic on me. That’s why I had mixed feelings when I saw two vehicles on the narrow forest track leading to the tomb.

So when I heard voices and saw people from a distance as I approached the tomb, I was a little disappointed. Blimey, couldn’t they have picked another day for their visit? As it turned out, the grave was being surveyed using a 3D scanner by staff and students from a university in Schleswig-Holstein.

On the one hand, it was interesting to see how a 3D model of a megalithic tomb is created; on the other hand, the various pieces of equipment and the noise generated by the scanners meant that there was no real ‘megalithic’ atmosphere. Taking reasonably good photos without the equipment – scanners and tripods – was a real challenge. Thanks god for AI, I was able to remove the objects in post procecing before uploading the images to TMA.

Reinfeld has an east-west-facing burial chamber. Its external length is 5.5 m and its internal length is 3.8 m; its external width is 2.5 m and its internal width is 1.2 m. It is unclear where the original entrance to the chamber was located. Consequently, the exact type of tomb cannot be determined with certainty. Given the size of the chamber and the number of wall stones, it must have been either a large dolmen or a passage grave. The tomb is situated in a prominent spot on a small hill, accessed via a few steps.

To get to the tomb, take the Reinfeld exit from the A1 motorway. After about 800 metres, turn left onto the B75. Follow this for about 2.2 km before turning right onto Kalkgraben, heading north. After about 1.5 km, you will come to a junction; here, turn left onto the street called Neuer Garten. After 350 metres, turn right onto Schuhwiesenweg. After about 220 metres, there is a car park on the right. You can park your car here and continue on foot for about 500 metres along the narrow road. Alternatively, you can try your luck about 250 metres further on, where you can park on a small patch of land to the left of the road. A forest path then leads from the road to the grave, heading north alongside a small stream. A sign marks the start of the path; from here, it’s about 500 metres to the grave.

Visited June 2026

After heading west just south of Drumyeonbeg and Gigha’s golf course through fields with a few fence junps I headed north to approach the lower slopes leading to Dun Chibhich, one of Gigha’s most famous sites. Certainly one of its highest as well.

The entrance is in the south being at least 1.5m in width. Massive outer defences still exist reasonably intact along with an inner wall which still stands at 1m high and in parts is over 3m wide. Bits missed by the residents, back then, were compensated by nature – it did a good job by providing natural defence.

Just outside the entance there is a sunken area also known as the “Giant’s Grave”. It is more likely to be a ‘sunken court’ as described by Trove.

The location is stunning with views to Jura, Islay and Kintyre. Also, slightly to the north but almost impossible to reach, the crannog in Mill Loch.

In a rare outbreak of common sense towards our prehistoric sites the powers that be have scheduled the area to be 70m in diameter. The site itself covers an area 37m by 25m.

Visited 06/08/2025.