Ring Cairn 490m NW of Culdoich Croy and Dalcross, Scotland

Text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

Cultural Significance

The monument's cultural significance can be expressed as follows:

Intrinsic characteristics: From the excavation of related monuments we now understand that the remains associated with ring cairns can include stone platforms enclosed by a circle or 'kerb' of stones, larger surrounding stone circles and rubble banks or 'rays' joining them as well as other features, and that they have a complex history of development. So, despite the fact that much of the interior of this cairn has been excavated in the 1950s, the monument still has the potential to include well-preserved remains that can help us to better understand the construction and use of this site. It is also likely to seal information about the prehistoric environment that existed at the time of its construction and use. Key structural characteristics - the kerbs and a standing stone - are still preserved and visible. Recent archaeological fieldwork under the direction of Professor Richard Bradley has highlighted the significance over the selection, position and orientation of kerbstones and this has been noted by other researchers at Culdoich. The monument therefore has a good potential to contribute to future understanding of Early Bronze-Age funerary and ritual practices.

Contextual characteristics: This monument is an example of a small, regionally-defined group of 50 or so prehistoric monuments, known as Clava cairns, which are only found in the Inverness and Moray Firth area, particularly along river valleys and low ground S of the Firth. Examples generally include components of stone circles, ring cairns and passage graves. Culdoich is an example of the close association of such monuments with water courses (two streams close to it). The monuments at Balnuaran of Clava are the type-site, and Culdoich currently forms the southwesternmost limit of an extensive, rare and very important cemetery that we believe was conceived as a unitary phenomenon. New evidence for the elements of this cemetery and its extent have recently been found. The monuments tend to have a dominant position in relation to the immediate location only.

Associative characteristics: It is the view of most prehistorians that there was an intimate relationship between the religious beliefs expressed by monuments such as Culdoich, the surrounding landscape and the movements of the main astronomical bodies. This astronomical link continues to generate considerable interest today. The importance of the relict prehistoric landscape that includes Culdoich is recognised by the fact that many of its component monuments are in the care of the Scottish Ministers. Along with nearby sites such as Culloden and Fort George, these are major tourist attractions.

National Importance

This monument is of national importance because it represents a rare and regionally-distinctive class of Early Bronze-Age monument that can help us to understand burial and ritual practices in NE Scotland and their relationship to what is happening elsewhere in the British Isles. It is a key component of an extensive and well-preserved cemetery and has the potential to provide important information about the activities that took place here and how these contribute to the development of this ceremonial landscape as a whole.