4th Stop: Cairnpapple Hill

I like the name of this site: Cairnpapple. This was an interesting place, though the choice of presentation is unfortunate. What I mean is, when it was excavated (sometime in the 1950's) it was realised that there were many phases to the place, it had been used over a large amount of time. It was a Neolithic henge monument, also used in the Bronze Age with burial cists, and possibly some burials from the early Medieval period. But when the site was prepared for the public, a large dome was built over the burials, and all the different phases are shown at once. It does create some confusion, and the dome mars the natural beauty of the place, as a black metal stairway sticks up out of the dome and looks quite ugly.

The area viewed from the top of the dome. For those of you who have read the 44 Scotland Street books, I feel sure that my professor (standing roughly in the middle of the group was wearing "Crushed Strawberry" trousers. They look almost red in this picture, but I myself am convinced they were crushed strawberry!

Inside the dome, by one of the burial cists

The mist was really crawling in here. It was quite cold.

On the way back down the hill