Archaeological Sites in Scotland
Cairn in Scotland (28)
 Balnuaran of Clava.webp)
Balnuaran of Clava
A Bronze Age cemetery east of Inverness, Scotland, built around 2000 BC, comprising three large cairns aligned northeast to southwest. The two outer cairns are passage graves and…
Barpa Langass
Barpa Langass is a Neolithic chambered cairn on the northwestern slope of Ben Langass, Isle of North Uist, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, approximately 5,000 years old. Measuring about…
Blackhammer Chambered Cairn
Blackhammer Chambered Cairn is a Neolithic chambered cairn on the island of Rousay, Orkney, Scotland. Constructed around 3000 BC, it is an Orkney-Cromarty type chambered cairn…
Cairnpapple Hill
Cairnpapple Hill is one of mainland Scotland's most important prehistoric sites, used as a ritual center for over 4,000 years from the 4th millennium BC to the early Christian…
Calf of Eday Cairns
The Calf of Eday is an uninhabited island northeast of Eday in Orkney, Scotland, containing three Neolithic chambered cairns dating to approximately 3600-3500 BC. The main cairn,…
Clava Cairns of Aviemore
The Clava Cairns of Aviemore are three prehistoric burial cairns located in or near the Scottish Highland town of Aviemore. All three were first described by Caleb George Cash, an…
Corrimony Chambered Cairn
Corrimony Chambered Cairn is a well-preserved Bronze Age burial monument near Glen Urquhart in the Scottish Highlands. It belongs to the distinctive group of circular chambered…
 (1) (Kenny McFly).webp)
Crantit Chambered Cairn
Crantit is a Neolithic chambered cairn discovered in April 1998 on the outskirts of Kirkwall, Orkney, remarkable for having remained sealed and undisturbed since prehistory. The…
Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn
Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn is a Neolithic chambered cairn on Mainland, Orkney, Scotland, located about 6 miles west of Kirkwall. Dating to around 3000 BC, it was constructed by…
Glebe Cairn, Kilmartin Glen
Glebe Cairn is the northernmost of five burial cairns forming a linear cemetery stretching 2 km through Kilmartin Glen, Scotland, dating to between 5,000 and 3,500 years ago. The…
Grey Cairns of Camster
4500–3000 BC: The Grey Cairns of Camster are two large Neolithic chambered cairns in Caithness, Scotland, about 14 km south of Watten and 8 km north of Lybster. Among Scotland's…
Holm of Papa Chambered Cairn
The Holm of Papa is a small uninhabited island in the Orkney Islands, covering approximately 21 hectares. The island's main archaeological feature is the Southcairn, a chambered…
Huntersquoy Chambered Cairn
Huntersquoy Chambered Cairn is a Neolithic chambered cairn on the island of Eday in Orkney, Scotland. It is an Orkney-Cromarty type chambered cairn. The monument is distinctive…
Knowe of Yarso Chambered Cairn
Knowe of Yarso chambered cairn is a Neolithic burial monument on Rousay island in Orkney, Scotland. Excavated in the 1930s, the site yielded human and animal bones, pottery…
Maeshowe
Maeshowe is a Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave on Mainland Orkney, Scotland, constructed around 2800 BC. It is the type site for the Maeshowe type of chambered cairn,…
Midhowe Chambered Cairn
Midhowe Chambered Cairn is a large Neolithic chambered cairn located on the south shore of Rousay island, Orkney, Scotland. The name derives from the nearby Iron Age Midhowe…
Nether Largie Mid Cairn, Kilmartin Glen
Nether Largie Mid Cairn is a Neolithic burial cairn in Kilmartin Glen, Scotland, dating to 4500-3000 BC. Part of a linear cemetery of five burial cairns, the site lies within…
Nether Largie North Cairn, Kilmartin Glen
A large round cairn in Kilmartin Glen dating to the late Neolithic and Bronze Age (c. 3000-1500 BC), forming part of a remarkable 2 km linear cemetery of five burial cairns.…
Nether Largie South Cairn, Kilmartin Glen
Nether Largie South is a Neolithic chambered cairn in Kilmartin Glen, part of a linear cemetery of five burial cairns. Probably dating from the fourth millennium BC, it was…
Quanterness Chambered Cairn
Quanterness Chambered Cairn is a Neolithic burial monument on Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. Excavations in the 1970s revealed an Iron Age roundhouse built into the cairn around 700…
Quoyness Chambered Cairn
Quoyness Chambered Cairn is a Neolithic burial monument on the island of Sanday in Orkney, Scotland. Similar to Maeshowe in design, the tomb was probably built around 3000 BC. The…
Ri Cruin Cairn, Kilmartin Glen
Ri Cruin is the most southerly cairn in Kilmartin Glen's remarkable linear cemetery, a 2 km line of Bronze Age burial cairns in Argyll, Scotland. Built between 2200 and 1950 BC,…
Taversöe Tuick Chambered Cairn
(4500-2500 BCE) Taversoe Tuick is a Neolithic burial cairn on Rousay, Orkney featuring a rare double-tiered chamber system. An upper chamber is entered via a passage, with a lower…
The Linear Cemetery, Kilmartin Glen
A striking alignment of five large burial cairns running 2 km north to south along the floor of Kilmartin Glen in Argyll, Scotland. The cairns span from the Neolithic to Bronze…
Tomb of the Eagles
The Tomb of the Eagles (Isbister Chambered Cairn) is a Neolithic chambered tomb on the cliffs of South Ronaldsay in Orkney, Scotland, built around 3000 BC. Discovered by farmer…
Unstan Chambered Cairn
Unstan is a Neolithic chambered cairn on Mainland, Orkney, Scotland, built 3400-2800 BC on a promontory extending into the Loch of Stenness near Howe, about 2 mi (3 km) north-east…
Vinquoy Chambered Cairn
Vinquoy Chambered Cairn is a Neolithic chambered cairn on the island of Eday in Orkney, Scotland. Built in the early third millennium BC, it dates to approximately 3000-2500 BC.…
Wideford Hill Chambered Cairn
Wideford Hill Chambered Cairn is a Neolithic chambered cairn on Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. The tomb dates to around 2000 BC, making it approximately 4,000 years old. It is…
Minaret/tower in Scotland (23)
Broch of Borwick
Iron Age broch perched on a cliff-top promontory 20 metres above the sea on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney. Built around 500 BC, the broch has an external diameter of 17…
Broch of Burrian
Iron Age broch on the southern tip of North Ronaldsay, Orkney, defended by four concentric ramparts on its landward side. Excavated by William Traill in 1870-71, the broch yielded…
Broch of Culswick
The Broch of Culswick is an unexcavated coastal Iron Age tower in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. Standing about 3 metres tall on a rock platform, it has panoramic views of Foula…
Broch of Mousa
The tallest surviving broch and one of the best-preserved prehistoric buildings in Europe, standing 13.3 metres high on the island of Mousa in Shetland. Constructed around 300 BC,…
Broch of West Burrafirth
Iron Age broch on the Holm of Hebrista, a low rocky islet in West Burra Firth on Mainland Shetland, accessible only by boat or at very low tide. The ruined structure retains a…
Burra Ness Broch
Burra Ness Broch is an Iron Age broch on the east coast of Yell, Shetland, situated on the tip of the Burra Ness headland south of Gutcher. The tower has an external diameter of…
Burroughston Broch
Burroughston Broch is an Iron Age broch on the northeast coast of Shapinsay in the Orkney Islands, overlooking the North Sea. Excavated by George Petrie and planned by Dryden…
Caisteal Grugaig
Caisteal Grugaig is an Iron Age broch perched on a rocky knoll overlooking Loch Alsh in the Scottish Highlands. Brochs are drystone roundhouse towers unique to Scotland, featuring…
Carn Liath - Broch
Carn Liath (Grey Cairn) is an Iron Age broch on the eastern shore of the Scottish Highlands near Golspie, Sutherland, dating to the golden age of broch building (c. 300 BC - 200…
Clachtoll Broch
Clachtoll Broch is a spectacular Iron Age drystone tower on a precipitous coastal outcrop in Assynt, Sutherland, in the Scottish Highlands, built approximately 2,500 years ago.…
Dun Beag Broch
Dun Beag is one of the best-preserved Iron Age brochs on the Isle of Skye, perched on a rocky outcrop near Struan overlooking Loch Bracadale. Built in the last centuries BC, the…
Dun Carloway
Dun Carloway is one of Scotland's best-preserved broch towers, standing on a rocky outcrop on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis. Probably built around 200 BC, it served as a…
Dun Cuier
Dun Cuier is a broch-like galleried dun on the island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, perched on a rocky summit about 46 metres above sea level. The structure measures 14.5 metres…
Dun Dornaigil
Dun Dornaigil (also Dun Dornadilla) is an Iron Age broch in Strathmore, Sutherland, probably built in the 1st century BC. Its most striking feature is a massive triangular lintel…
Dun Fiadhairt Broch
Dun Fiadhairt is an Iron Age broch located on the north coast of the island of Skye, Scotland.
Dun Hallin
Dun Hallin is an Iron Age Broch located near the northwest coast of the island of Skye, Scotland.
Dun Mor Vaul
Dun Mor Vaul is an Iron Age broch on a rocky knoll on the north coast of Tiree, one of the rare brochs found in Argyll. The drystone tower has an internal diameter of 9.2 metres…
Edin's Hall Broch
Edin's Hall Broch is an Iron Age fortification near Duns in the Scottish Borders, built in the 1st-2nd centuries AD within an older hillfort dating to 2,000-2,500 years ago. At 22…
Kintradwell Broch
Kintradwell Broch (also known as Cinn Trolla) is an Iron Age broch on the coast a few miles north of Brora in Sutherland, Highland Scotland. Walls survive in places to 3 m in…
Sallachy Broch
Sallachy Broch is an Iron Age drystone tower on the east shore of Loch Shin in Sutherland, Scotland, designated as Scheduled Monument SM1883. The broch measures approximately 31…
Stairhaven
Stairhaven is a ruined Iron Age broch perched on a rocky spur about 9 meters above the east shore of Luce Bay in Wigtownshire, southwestern Scotland. Also known as Broken Castle…
Tappoch Broch
Tappoch Broch, also known as Torwood Broch, is an Iron Age broch situated atop Tappoch hill in Tor Wood forest near Falkirk, Scotland. One of the rare lowland brochs, it features…
Tirefour Castle
(800 BC - 1st c. AD) Tirefour Castle is an Iron Age broch located 4 km north of Achnacroish on the island of Lismore, Scotland. The tower sits on a rocky height along the island's…
City/town/settlement in Scotland (6)
Broch of Gurness
Iron Age broch village on the northeast coast of Mainland Orkney, overlooking Eynhallow Sound, and the best-preserved broch village in Scotland. Settled between 500 and 200 BC,…
Jarlshof
Jarlshof is one of the most remarkable archaeological sites in the British Isles, located near the southern tip of Shetland, Scotland. It preserves over 4,000 years of continuous…
Midhowe Broch
Midhowe Broch is an Iron Age fortified tower on the west coast of Rousay in Orkney, Scotland, dating to the last centuries BC. Strategically positioned on a narrow promontory…
Old Scatness
Old Scatness is an archaeological site on Scat Ness, near the village of Scatness in the parish of Dunrossness, at the south end of Mainland, Shetland, Scotland, close to Sumburgh…
Rubha an Dùnain Passage Grave
Rubha an Dunain is an uninhabited peninsula south of the Cuillin hills on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, containing archaeological sites spanning 8,000 years of continuous human…
Skara Brae
Skara Brae is a stone-built Neolithic settlement on the Bay of Skaill, Orkney, Scotland, dating to 4500–3000 BC. The village consisted of ten clustered houses constructed from…
Megalithic structures in Scotland (5)
Dun Ardtreck
Dun Ardtreck is a D-shaped dun, or "semi-broch", located on the Minginish peninsula of the west coast of the island of Skye, Scotland. It is situated on a rocky knoll on the edge…
Dun Grugaig
Dun Grugaig is a D-shaped Iron Age dun, or "semi-broch," in Gleann Beag near Glenelg, Highland Scotland. Measuring roughly 47 by 38 feet with walls 14 feet thick surviving to…
Dun Telve
Dun Telve is an Iron Age broch near Glenelg in the Scottish Highlands, and one of the best-preserved brochs in Scotland, standing over 10 metres high with a diameter exceeding 20…
Dun Troddan
Dun Troddan is an Iron Age Broch located about 5 km (3.1 mi) southeast of the village of Glenelg in Highland, Scotland. It stands on a level rock platform north of the Abhainn a'…
Dun Vulan
Dun Vulan is an Iron Age broch on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides, originally situated on a freshwater lake but now on an exposed coastal promontory. Excavated between 1991 and…
Fortress/citadel in Scotland (3)
Caterthuns
Two Iron Age hillforts near Brechin in Angus, Scotland, situated about one kilometre apart on a ridge overlooking Strathmore, dating to c. 750-200 BC. The White Caterthun features…
Dun Ringill
Dun Ringill is an Iron Age hill fort on the Strathaird peninsula on the island of Skye, Scotland. Further fortified in the Middle Ages, tradition holds that it was for several…
Ness of Burgi Fort
An Iron Age blockhouse fort on a dramatic promontory at the southern tip of Mainland, Shetland, probably built around 100 BC. The rectangular blockhouse measures roughly 23 m by…
Rock relief/carving in Scotland (3)
Ballochmyle Cup and Ring marks
4500–3000 BC: The Ballochmyle Cup and Ring marks are carved on a vertical red Permian sandstone cliff at Ballochmyle, Mauchline, East Ayrshire, Scotland. First recorded in 1986,…
Carving depicting Animals, Kilmartin Glen
In Kilmartin Glen, one of Scotland's richest concentrations of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains, archaeologist Hamish Fenton discovered prehistoric animal carvings inside…
Cup and Ring marks, Kilmartin Glen
Kilmartin Glen in Argyll, Scotland, contains a remarkable concentration of prehistoric cup and ring marks created during the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age (c. 3000-1200 BC). Sites…
Megalithic stones in Scotland (2)
Ballymeanoch, Kilmartin Glen
Ballymeanoch is a complex of Neolithic megalithic structures in Kilmartin Glen, Scotland.
Nether Largie Standing Stones, Kilmartin Glen
A group of five standing stones southeast of Temple Wood Stone Circle in Kilmartin Glen, arranged on a northeast-to-southwest axis with two pairs flanking a central menhir. The…
Stone circle in Scotland (2)
Machrie Moor Stone Circles
Machrie Moor Stone Circles comprise six stone circles on Machrie Moor, Isle of Arran, Scotland, representing the island's best-known archaeological site. The earliest activity…
Temple Wood, Kilmartin Glen
Temple Wood is a Neolithic and Bronze Age ritual site in Kilmartin Glen, Argyll, Scotland, that saw approximately 2,000 years of continuous use. Beginning around 3500-3000 BC with…
Wall in Scotland (2)
Antonine Wall
Built in approximately 142 AD, the Antonine Wall was a turf fortification on stone foundations constructed by the Romans across Scotland's Central Belt, spanning 63 km (39 miles)…
Funzie Girt
Funzie Girt (also known as Finnigirt Dyke) is an ancient wall stretching over 4 km (2.5 mi) north-south across Fetlar in Shetland, Scotland. It once divided the island into two…
Cemetery in Scotland (1)
Henge in Scotland (1)
Monument in Scotland (1)
Other sites in Scotland (6)
Burghead Chambered Well
The Burghead Well is an enigmatic underground structure discovered in 1809 within the perimeter of Burghead promontory fort, a major Pictish fortress in Moray, Scotland that…
Dwarfie Stane
The Dwarfie Stane is a unique megalithic chambered tomb carved from a massive block of Old Red Sandstone on Hoy, Orkney, Scotland. Measuring 8.6 metres long, 4 metres wide, and…
Kilmartin Glen
Kilmartin Glen is an area in Argyll, Scotland, containing the most important concentration of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains on mainland Scotland. Located between Oban and…
Knap of Howar
The Knap of Howar on Papa Westray in Orkney, Scotland, is a Neolithic farmstead dating to approximately 3700-2800 BC, making it among the oldest standing stone buildings in…
Stanydale Temple
Stanydale Temple is a Neolithic site on Mainland, Shetland, Scotland. Located in a field south of Stanydale village, approximately 34 km (21 mi) by road northwest of Lerwick, the…
Yarrows Broch
Iron Age broch situated on a promontory projecting into the Loch of Yarrows in Caithness, Scotland. The circular structure has an internal diameter of about 10 metres with walls…
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