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Balnuarin Of Clava

Cup And Ring Marked Stone (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age), Kerb Cairn (Bronze Age)

Site Name Balnuarin Of Clava

Classification Cup And Ring Marked Stone (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age), Kerb Cairn (Bronze Age)

Alternative Name(s) Clava Cairns

Canmore ID 14258

Site Number NH74SE 10

NGR NH 75681 44423

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/14258

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Highland
  • Parish Croy And Dalcross (Nairn)
  • Former Region Highland
  • Former District Nairn
  • Former County Nairn

Archaeology Notes

NH74SE 10 7568 4442.

West of the three main cairns at Balnuranan of Clava (NH74SE 1, NH74SE 3, NH74SE 4 ) lies a small circle of contiguous recumbent stone, approximately 12 feet in internal diameter, with one of the stones on the ESE, bearing cup-and-ring and simple cup carvings. Excavation of the interior revealed what appears to have been a shallow grave for a now vanished inhumation, 5ft 6ins by 2ft 6ins. Over the filling of this near its western end was a scatter of white quartz pebbles. No artifacts were found beyond a scrap or two of pebble flint.

W Jolly 1882; S Piggott 1956.

NH 7568 4442 This circle is as described above.

Visited by OS (W D J) 25 April 1962.

Activities

Field Visit (July 1979)

Balnuaran of Clava NH 756 444 NH74SE 10

Situated 20m WSW of (NH74SE 3), this unusual structure consists of fifteen small contiguous recumbent stones forming a rough circle about 3.6m in diameter. One of the stones on the E bears at least fourteen cup-marks, one of them surrounded by a single ring. Excavations in 1953 revealed, within the interior, what appeared to have been a shallow grave partly overlain by a scatter of quartz pebbles.

RCAHMS 1979, visited July 1979

(Piggott 1956, 192; Henshall 1963-72, i, 361-6; Ritchie and Maclaren 1972, 8)

Note (11 August 2018)

Date Fieldwork Started: 11/08/2018

Compiled by: NOSAS

ScRAP ID: 2018

Location Notes: The panel is part of the complex of monuments at Clava ('Clava cairns'), well known and much frequented by visitors. The site is located on a level river terrace to the SE of the river Nairn, in the flat bottom of the SW to NE valley. The panel is part of a small circle of stones, on its S edge, and separate from the three main cairns on the site. There is a car park and on site interpretation.

Panel Notes: Roughly rectangular, 1.4m in length and 0.9m wide, this panel has two flat horizontal surfaces at different levels and is composed of a medium grained sandstone with smooth worn surfaces. The upper (SW) surface has a larger cup with a faint but clear ring, four clear cups near its edge, and one below them on the SE face. In addition, there are four worn cups in a row following the edge facing the lower surface. The lower surface (NE) has a row of five cups crossing the surface, and one other at the edge. In total there are 15 cupmarks and 1 cup-and-ring motif.

Field Visit (November 2019)

NH 75734 44402 (centred) Visitor numbers to Balnuaran of Clava Cairns have increased year-on-year but especially within the last five years. This has created its own problems with damage and erosion being caused to the archaeological sites within the Property in Care boundary.

An erosion survey was carried out, in November 2019, within the environs of Balnuaran of Clava Cairns to look at the general condition and state of erosion suffered to the archaeological sites. The survey revealed that the monuments are suffering from various degrees of erosion ranging from intrusive to, in many cases, severe. The main cause for the erosion is visitor footfall, not only to the monuments themselves but to the roots of the surrounding tree cover.

The survey also noted the eastern half of a rectangular stone-built feature beginning to erode out of the grass between Cairn 3 and 2. The feature also appears on a recent LIDAR survey of Balnuaran of Clava Cairns as either two joined squares or a rectangular feature with a dividing wall.

Archive: NRHE (intended)

Funder: Historic Environment Scotland

Graeme Carruthers − CFA Archaeology Ltd

(Source: DES Vol 21)

Field Visit (October 2020)

NH 75734 44402 (centred) Visitor numbers to Balnuaran of Clava Cairns has increased year on year but especially within the last five years. The site’s popularity has however created problems with damage and erosion being caused to the archaeological sites within the Property in Care boundary.

An erosion survey was carried out, in October 2020, in order to see if the erosion noted in a survey of 2019 had had a chance to regenerate in 2020 as visitor numbers were greatly reduced due to Covid-19 restrictions. The survey found that the erosion was still as extensive across the site as had been seen the previous year. The monuments are still suffering from various degrees of erosion ranging from intrusive to, in many cases, severe.

Archive: NRHE (intended)

Funder: Historic Environment Scotland

Graeme Carruthers – CFA Archaeology Ltd

(Source: DES Vol 22)

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