Grey Cairns of Camster - Round Cairn
Chambered Cairn
Also known as Camster Round Cairn
This extremely well preserved cairn, 20 metres in diameter and over 4 metres high, is part of a group of cairns known as the Grey Cairns of Camster. Camster Long Cairn is also part of the group and is just a few metres away.
The round cairn stands in what is now very boggy land and is reached by way of a board walk.
Internally, the rectangular chamber is divided into a main chamber and ante chamber by two megaliths. The main chamber is large enough to stand upright, but the narrow and low entrance passage requires you to crawl.
The entrance passage had been filled in with stones at some point in the distant past. When excavated, skeletons of two people were found amongst the stones. These had not been lain on the floor of the passage. Indeed, it appeared most likely that the corpses had been placed in a sitting position amongst the in-fill stones.
See also: Cairn of Get.
1/18 Camster round cairn from the northwest
2/18 The slab making up the backwall of the main chamber.
3/18 A side wall of the ante chamber.
4/18 The main chamber from the ante chamber.
5/18 The ante chamber from the main chamber.
6/18 The ante chamber and entrance passage from the main chamber.
7/18 One of the stones separating the main and ante chambers.
8/18 The modern "capstone" which provides some light to the main chamber.
9/18 Looxing along the entrance passage from the ante chamber.
10/18 The lintel stones making up the roof of the entrance passage.
11/18 Looking north towards Camster long cairn from the round cairn.
12/18 The entrance and forecourt.
13/18 The entrance and forecourt.
14/18 The entrance and forecourt.
15/18 The entrance and forecourt.
16/18 Looking north towards Camster long cairn from the round cairn.
17/18 Looking towards the round cairn from the long cairn. The entrance can be seen at the left edge of the cairn.
18/18 Both cairns seen from the south.
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