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South Ronaldsay, Hesta Head
Kerb Cairn (Prehistoric)
Site Name South Ronaldsay, Hesta Head
Classification Kerb Cairn (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 9527
Site Number ND48NE 2
NGR ND 46525 88000
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/9527
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish South Ronaldsay
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Orkney
- Former County Orkney
ND48NE 2 4654 8799
At Hesta Head and only a few yards distant from the cliff edge are traces of a cairn 45ft in diameter indicated by a circular setting of kerb stones, sometimes more than 1ft high.
RCAHMS 1946, visited 1929
A ruinous cairn at ND 4654 8800 measuring 13.5m in diameter and 0.4m high with ten rough boulders of a kerb surviving around the perimeter. Eccentrically set within are three upright stones 0.4m high which could be the remnants of a chamber, but which are more likely to be intrusive. Other earthfast stones within the cairn body suggest the possibility that the cairn may have been built on an earlier structure. Outside the cairn to the S are two stones,one on edge, possibly artificially placed.
Surveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (IMT), 4 May 1973.
Not a chambered cairn. The three upright stones mentioned by OS (IMT) appear to be intrusive. The other earthfast stones within the cairn, form a rough circle 7.8m in diameter suggesting that the cairn may be two-phased, rather than "having been built on an earlier structure"
Visited by OS (JLD) 15 May 1981
ND 465 880 Cairn, ?prehistoric.
Sponsors: Historic Scotland, Orkney Archaeological Trust.
G Wilson and H Moore 1997.
Field Visit (17 April 1994)
This kerb cairn is large and complex and perhaps consists of different phases as OS suggest. There appear to be two kerbs an inner one of very large blocks which has an outer and inner face visible and an outer kerb of smaller stones. If this cairn was covered by a mound - which cannot be assumed - this material has now gone as the stones are exposed. The cairn measures 13.5m by 15.9m and is 0.4m in height. It is visible from the SW to the NW for 1km.
Information from the Orkney Barrows Project (JD), 1994
Field Visit (August 1997)
A low grassy mound, 12m in diameter, is located 8m from the cliff edge. It is sub-circular in plan and stands up to 0.4m high. Protruding stones may be the remains of a kerb and central cist. When previously inspected, it was suggested that this monument may have had two phases of use. This was based upon the observation that some of the stones at the centre of the mound appeared to be intrusive. This could not be confirmed since the structural details are not now so clearly visible. This site was surveyed at 1:2500 by OS in 1973.
Moore and Wilson, 1997
Coastal Zone Assessment Survey
