Cairn Holy Chambered Cairns

This pair of Neolithic tombs didn’t always look jagged and bare. Originally, they were covered with many more stones, but over the years these were taken and reused for local building projects. When archaeologists Stuart Piggott and Terence Powell excavated the site in 1949, they uncovered important evidence that helped explain how the tombs were used and when they were built.

The story of these chambered tombs begins in the 4th millennium BC, when early farming communities built them as special places to lay their dead to rest. Their use continued for many centuries. Finds such as Beaker pottery, along with decorated stones bearing cup‑and‑ring marks in the burial chamber of Cairn Holy 1, show that people were still returning to these tombs before 2000 BC.

Long after their original purpose was forgotten, the monuments continued to shape the landscape. By the 18th century AD, however, both cairns had been heavily robbed of their stone, which was taken to build nearby field dykes, leaving the exposed, skeletal structures we see today.

Cairn Holy I is the more elaborate of the two tombs. Its curving façade of standing stones once formed a backdrop to a forecourt in front of the tomb. Excavations show fires were lit here, possibly for ritual ceremonies.

The tomb itself consisted of an outer and an inner compartment. The inner compartment was built as a closed box, and was probably originally roofed by a great stone slab. The outer compartment was entered through the façade.

Within the cairn, two of the stone slabs forming the burial chamber have cup-and-ring marks carved into them.

Legend has it that Cairn Holy II is the tomb of Galdus, a mythical Scottish king. While it is possible that the site was reused for later burial, in reality the tomb is much older. It may have been the final resting place of an important individual or group of individuals nearly 5000 years ago. Perched on a rocky knoll against the heather-clad hill of Cairnharrow, Cairn Holy II has an undeniable presence in the landscape.

Little in the way of human remains were found during excavations, but there were some surprising artefacts found. They included:

• a flake of pitchstone from the island of Arran in Cairn Holy I’s forecourt

• fragments of pottery from a bowl made in the English style

• Beaker pottery dated to centuries after the tombs’ original construction

• part of a ceremonial axe made of jadeite, found in Cairn Holy I’s outer chamber

The axe is the most interesting discovery. Jadeite must have been imported into Britain from the Alps in mainland Europe, and its presence in Galloway reflects the wealth and power of its owner. It also shows Scotland’s Neolithic population interacted and possibly traded with foreign groups.

The finds of Beaker pottery demonstrate how the tombs continued to be important, special places within the landscape for many centuries.