Dunchraigaig Cairn

Nearest town:
Lochgilphead (9km SSE)
OS reference:
NR833968
OS sheet:
55
Latitude:
56° 6' 52.55 N
Longitude:
5° 29' 9.68 W

Images

Image of Dunchraigaig Cairn (Cairn) by mr moonie

On a visit to Nether Largie, the first cairn we came to (not sure of the name but it's the nearest to the road, surrounded by a grove and quite large) had a 6 foot long cist at floor level in the side of it and a hand-sized hole in the top. charging up the flash and popping the camera inside, I came up with this!

Image credit: mr moonie
M
mr moonie Mar 3, 2007
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Image of Dunchraigaig Cairn (Cairn) by Kozmik_Ken

The next day we took an excursion to Balnakeil Beach, Church and Craft Village. An old army installation that has become an artist's colony. There is also reputedly to be a stone circle near here, but we didn't find it.

On the way back, driving along the Kyle of Durness, we spotted a guy at the roadside watching the sky with a pair of binoculars. Scott pulled over and we looked up to see a Golden Eagle cruising the thermals right above us. A fantastic sight. Back in the car, I took a glance at the map and noticed we were right next to a site marked as stone circles on the map. We found the site over a hillock in the field next to the road.

Dunchraigaig cairn in Kilmartin Valley

Image credit: Andy H
Kozmik_Ken
Kozmik_Ken Sep 11, 2003
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Articles

Dunchraigaig Cairn

Extremely rare prehistoric animal carvings found for first time in Scotland

moss
moss Jun 1, 2021
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Historic Environment Scotland (HES) said the carvings – thought to be between 4,000 and 5,000 years old – were discovered inside Dunchraigaig Cairn in Kilmartin Glen, Argyll.

They are thought to date to the Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, and include images of deer.

Hamish Fenton, who has an archaeology background, found them by chance.

Kilmartin Glen is viewed as one of the most important concentration of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains in mainland Scotland.

Valuable as sources of meat, hides, and with bones and antlers used for a variety of tools, HES said deer would have been very important to local communities at the time.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-57304921

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Dunchraigaig Cairn

drewbhoy
drewbhoy Jul 8, 2023
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Walking down the A816 from the Great X etc we reached Dunchrigaig which still stands at 30m wide, 2.5m high. Lots of stone has been robbed, probably all of which can be seen in nearby dry stane dykes and local road repairs.

I saw the rock art but I'd no idea what it was, perhaps the stags mentioned had ran away. It certainly is a massive capstone.

A great site, an equal to what is to the north.

Visited 04/04/2023.

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Dunchraigaig Cairn

tjj
tjj Jun 3, 2017
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Visited Sunday 21/5/17

This was the first site we visited after Achnabreck and did so by chance really as would have passed it on our way to the 'big' sites in Kilmartin. As it turned out it seemed to form part of an astonishing archaeological complex comprising Ballymeanoch standing stones, kerb cairn and henge. And the Baluachraig rock art panel (same small car park on the opposite side of the road and same gate for all three sites).

Dunchraigaig, as with all the Kilmartin sites has a superb interpretation/information board. This one tells us that the cairn was excavated in the 19th century firstly by Rev. Reginald Mapleton and then again in 1864 by Canon William Greenwell. Inside the graves they found two decorated pots, flint chips and human remains. Among the cairn stones were a whetstone for sharpening metal, a stone axehead, a flint knife and pottery. All now lost.

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Dunchraigaig Cairn

C
CARL Aug 10, 2015
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Visited 25.7.15

As Postie says, this is only a minor player in the context of Kilmartin. Almost anywhere else it would get star billing. There are just so many things to see within the Kilmartin area. I have been here twice and only scratched the surface. You would need at least a fortnight to do it justice. Just to add that there are ferns growing in the back of the largest cist. Looks a bit like a mini grotto.Adds to the charm of the site.

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Dunchraigaig Cairn

postman
postman Jun 8, 2014
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This is the first site of the day, it's about 6am, it's not cold, but the dew laden grass is going to soak the kids feet quickly, they have gone on before me. By the time I've stones under my feet, they have been round, over and in the chambered cairn, so off they go to the Ballymeanoch stones.

Low mists swirl around over the river and Loch Crinan south and east from here. The hills cut a fine and striking silhouette against a light blue sky, a Blackbird sings loudly in a nearby tree and Swallows swing low over the field next door. It's going to be a good day, if a very long one.

The huge mass of stones is a high one, well over my head, so I climb to the top and find the higher of the two cists. It's not quite able to accommodate me, so I stick the camera in and take a couple of photos.

At the cairns north west edge is a small collection of stones that could be something, a small kerb cairn perhaps. On its south side is the lower chamber, it does not look like a cist, like the one on top, this is big enough to get into.

As first site of the day this is a good way to go, I would probably drive all the way across Wales to see something like this cairn, but in the Kilmartin Glen it's just a minor player in a much bigger game.

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Dunchraigaig Cairn

Hob
Hob Oct 6, 2005
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The carpark opposite the cairn is the starting point to visit the cairn, then to the left north), Baluachraig and then to the right, Ballymeanoch stones and henge. Paths lead from Dunchraigaig to each of the other sites.

Disabled access to Dunchraigaig is possible, but involves a short hop over the main road, which could be a bit hairy.

Dunchraigaig cairn has a couple of cists, the outer one easiest to see, with another peeking from the top. There's also a small group of stones to the left of the cairn (as you're looking from the road), I have no idea what these might be, but they may be connected with the cairn in some way.

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Dunchraigaig Cairn

IronMan
IronMan Oct 25, 2002
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Yet another great cairn sitting on the plateau above the sites immediately surrounding Kilmartin village. The cist at the N side of the cairn lies open to the side, giving the impression of a low chambered tomb – this would have been closed off with a slab, access being original from the top. I got the usual urge to crawl inside... a few minutes later a family of german tourists struggled to reconcile their urge to do the same with the damage this may cause to their pristine jeans – the teenage daughter eventually gave in, and got down on her belly to peer inside, much to the horror of her mother!

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Dunchraigaig Cairn

gyrus
gyrus Aug 27, 2000
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These two sites seem to mark the eastern slopes bordering the 'processional lowlands' going up the glen. My general feeling from the area is the any ritual procession would come from the south, between Cairnbaan and Achnabreck, then be guided by monuments along the way to 'swing round' in the NNE-SSW aligned glen containing the linear cemetry.

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Sites within 20km of Dunchraigaig Cairn

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