Legal Description

The monument is a chambered cairn surrounded by the remains of a stone circle with a nearby smaller cairn, dating from the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age (fourth to third millennia BC). The chambered cairn is visible as a mound of stones up to 1.5m high with two monoliths on the ground to the southwest and west southwest and at least four hollows with exposed packing stones. The smaller cairn lies about 25m to the southeast of the main cairn and is visible as a heath-covered mound up to 1m high. The monument is located in heathland with sparse forest cover on the valley floor and sits 225m above sea level.

The main burial cairn is a Clava cairn, a type only found in the Inverness-shire area. These are circular chambered cairns, sometimes with a surrounding stone circle, named after a collection of cairns at Balnuaran of Clava near Inverness. The cairn is about 17m in overall diameter and has a complete outer kerb formed by a line of stones up to 1.2m high that is gently graded in height with the peak at the south southwest. A less complete inner kerb is also evident, formed by a line of stones approximately 7m in diameter now partially covered by stone debris. The area between the two kerbs is entirely in-filled with loose stones. The surrounding stone circle is visible as two fallen standing stones, one to the southwest measuring about 3m in length and the other to the west southwest measuring 2m in length. The adjacent hollows provide evidence for at least four other standing stones.

The scheduled area is irregular on plan and includes the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monuments construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduling specifically excludes the post-and-wire fences to allow for maintenance. The monument was originally scheduled in 1935 but the documentation did not adequately cover all of the nationally important remains; the present amendment rectifies this.

The monument is of national importance because it has inherent potential to make a significant contribution to our understanding of the past, in particular the design, construction and use of burial and ceremonial monuments of this date. It retains its field characteristics to a marked degree; the surviving structural form of the outer kerb of the cairn, evidence for the stone circle and the adjacent outlying cairn all contribute to its national important. Loch Nan Carraigean lies in the heart of Strathspey and the cairn with its stone circle and outlying cairn is an important surviving pre-historic monument within that landscape.  This monument, together with other broadly contemporary sites in the vicinity, is a significant source of evidence for understanding landuse, settlement, social organisation and ritual within Strathspey in the pre-historic past. Clava type cairns are only situated in the Inverness-shire area which is a relatively small distribution area. The loss of the monument would significantly diminish our ability to appreciate and understand structures and practices associated with death and burial in prehistoric times.

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland: http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/canmore.html CANMORE ID 15398.