Aviemore Ring Cairn and Stone Circle (about 2400-2200 BC) is originally consisted of a rubble bank, flanked by kerbs both inside and out and surrounded by a ring of standing stones.
The circle can be found at the far end of the village, not the end that goes to Cairngorm. It has been covered with soil for its protection and the inner kerb is not now visible. It was probably built about 4000 years ago by farmers and herdsmen, and may have had cremated human bones placed in it. This monument (Scheduled Monument 889: Aviemore,chambered cairn & stone circle 160m NNE of Wester Aviemore) is scheduled and in the care of Badenoch and Strathspey Disctrict Council but has sadly found itself engulfed by a housing estate.
The Cairngorms are the largest mountain massif in Britain; the mountains were carved over 350million years ago during the last Ice Age. By 1898, with the arrival of the railway, the town became a popular tourist destination; distinguished guests included Queen Victoria and Sir Walter Scott.
This is a Clava-type cairn, named after the site of Clava in the nearby Nairn Valley. Excavations at similar caims have unearthed fragments of burnt human bone, showing that these sites were places of communal burial activity. However, recent excavations conducted at Clava suggest that the cairns served a further function, acting as the focal points for religious rituals based around the setting of the mid-winter sun. OS sheet 35 & 36: sign-posted from Aviemore main street; easy access, including disabled.
The surviving parts of a Cairn & Stone Circle in the Ski resort of Aviemore. Turn up toward the Medical Centre and then take a left. For more info contact: Highland Council
Location:
Aviemore Ring Cairn and Stone Circle Signposted off the B9152 at the north end of Aviemore Aviemore Village near Kingussie (18km SW) Inverness-shire Scotland, UK