Clava Cairns
& Corrimony.
14th & 15th February 2015
OK, so I’m a sucker for ancient sites and monuments, what can I say.
On the way to the Clava cairns we passed this splendid railway viaduct near Culloden and couldnt resist a shot of that as well. Isn’t it a shame we don’t build like this any more?
Most ancient monuments end up so closely fenced in that all sense of atmosphere is lost but Clava was a pleasant surprise.
There are fences but they are at a reasonable distance for a change.
Built in the Bronze Age, these were the final resting places for one or two bodies each.
A substantial effort would have been required to build these tombs so we can presume the occupants were of some importance.
What remains are just the walls and floors, lacking the great capstones that would have rested on their tops.
They were sealed so unlike the Earlier Neolithic people, these cairn builders did not seem to feel the need to visit their ancestors in person.
From a photographic point of view the remains take on a sculptural look reminiscent of some landscape art projects that I have seen.
Large standing stones around the cairns provide foreground interest for many of the viewpoints too.
At Corrimony there is a more complete cairn of the same style with it’s capstone dislodged but still present.
This gives you a better impression of the whole structure although it would probably been covered with earth.
