Tullochs of Assery Chambered Cairns
Tulloch of Assery A & B · Loch Calder Cairns · Tulach Buaile Assery
Early Neolithic (c.3800–3300 BCE)·Orkney-Cromarty Neolithic (Caithness)·🇬🇧 Caithness, Highland, Scotland, United Kingdom
About
About Tullochs of Assery Chambered Cairns
Pair of Orkney-Cromarty type chambered cairns (A and B) plus nearby Tulach an t-Sionnaich, excavated 1961 by J. X. W. P. Corcoran in advance of Loch Calder reservoir raising. Located 100 m apart on level ground 215 ft above OD near Loch Calder. Tulloch A is a round cairn with tripartite Orkney-Cromarty chamber, 12 m diameter, excellently preserved; Tulloch B is a long horned cairn with Camster-type chamber. Finds include Early Neolithic pottery and human remains demonstrating sequential burial. Rescued and published as classic Caithness corpus.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why two different plans (round vs long) placed side-by-side
- 02Extent of Loch Calder Neolithic ritual landscape now drowned
Theories
- 01Paired cairns represent dual lineage cemeteries
- 02Loch Calder basin was a Neolithic ritual focus before inundation
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 3800–3300 BCE
- Period
- Early Neolithic (c.3800–3300 BCE)
- Culture
- Orkney-Cromarty Neolithic (Caithness)
- Purpose
- Collective tombs for Caithness farming community around Loch Calder
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 3800–3300 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1323 CE
Abandonment
On the ground
Structures & features
58.5580° N · 3.5880° W · 65 m · 3 mapped features
Tulloch of Assery A (Round Cairn)
cairn12 m round cairn with tripartite Orkney-Cromarty chamber
58.5581° N · 3.5882° WTulloch of Assery B (Long Horned Cairn)
cairn35 m horned long cairn with Camster chamber and forecourt
58.5580° N · 3.5875° WTulach an t-Sionnaich (nearby third cairn)
cairnThird chambered cairn 700 ft east of Tulloch A, also excavated 1961
58.5582° N · 3.5860° W
Gallery