Cairnpapple Hill On Visit To The Central Lowlands Of Scotland

Tour Scotland travel video, with Scottish music, of Cairnpapple Hill on visit to the Central Scottish Lowlands. It was used and re-used as a major ritual site over about 4,000 years, and in its day would have been comparable to better known sites like the Standing Stones of Stenness. Although there is still some confusion about the origin of the name Cairnpapple Hill, or the alternative Cairniepapple, its meaning can be guessed to a certain extent. It is uncertain whether the name comes from a Brythonic language, related to Welsh; a Goidelic one, such as Scottish Gaelic; or a mixture of the two. Cairniepapple is most likely to mean Cairn of the tent, Cairn of the people, or Cairn of the eye. Neolithic rituals began about 3500 BC with signs of small hearths, and precious objects left on the hill, presumably as offerings, including fine pottery bowls and stone axe heads imported from Cumbria and Wales. The broad summit of Cairnpapple Hill was a significant site for ceremonies and burials for at least 4,000 years. Centuries later the landscape was chosen for a number of Bronze Age burials. Much later still, it was used for early Christian graves. It is one of the most important prehistoric monuments on the mainland of Scotland. All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.