Clava cairn is a Bronze Age circular chamber tomb, about 4,000 years old. There are a group of four cairns and three stone circles, in Inverness, Scotland. Besides this one, there are around 50 more similar cairns in an area round about Inverness.
On a plaque it is mentioned that: “On the shortest day of the year, the sunlight streams up the passageway to illuminate the chamber. Both of Clava’s large cairns are aligned to the midwinter sunset. For the Bronze-Age farmer, this was a forbidding time of year with short days, long nights, cold weather, and dead crops.”
The cairns at Clava were some of the first monuments to be protected by law, in 1882. There is a picture of Pitt-Rivers, the first official inspector of ancient monuments. He visited Clava in 1884.
Clava Cairns are free to visit and open year-round. You can use the post code on your GPS, IV2 5EU. There is a good size car park.
I find places like this fascinating. Looks like you had a nice day for a visit.
You’ve been enjoying the most fascinating trip, Anca. This, too, is so interesting!
Thank you. It was a really amazing trip, packed with lots of wonderful things to see.
Clava Cairns looks like an interesting visit. It is wonderful that it has been preserved.