Within a six-mile radius of the village of Kilmartin, in Argyll north of Knapdale, stand more than 800 ancient monuments, of which some 150 are prehistoric. This concentration of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains is the most important in mainland Scotland, taking in standing stones, a henge, numerous cists and a “linear cemetery” of five burial cairns, many of them decorated with cup and ring marks.
The most visible feature is the linear arrangement of cairns running more than three miles south-by-southwest of the village. To the south, on the edge of the Moine Mhòr (“Great Moss”), lie the remains at Dunadd of the fortress of the Scots, a royal centre of Dál Riata. Kilmartin Museum, in the village itself, interprets and conserves the archaeological landscape, its artefacts and natural heritage.
What follows is drawn from published sources, with each claim labelled by how firmly it is established.
History
Nether Largie South, the oldest monument of the linear cemetery, is a Neolithic chambered cairn of the Clyde type probably dating from the fourth millennium BC.
Ri Cruin Cairn, the most southerly in the linear cemetery, was built between 2200 BC and 1950 BC and was more recently used as a lime kiln, all traces of which were removed following a reconstruction of the site.
Glebe Cairn was excavated in 1864 by the antiquary Canon William Greenwell, who found two concentric stone circles beneath the stones and two central cist burials.
Nether Largie Mid Cairn was first excavated in 1929, shortly after much of its stone had been reused in roadbuilding.
In May 2021 archaeologists announced the discovery of prehistoric deer carvings inside Dunchraigaig Cairn, thought to date to the Neolithic or Early Bronze Age and the first of their kind found in Scotland.
People
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Canon William Greenwell
Antiquary who excavated Glebe Cairn in 1864, recovering a jet necklace and a decorated bowl from its central cists.
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Portrait: Swan Watson, Andrew / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain V. Gordon Childe
Conducted one of the three excavations at Ri Cruin Cairn, in 1936.
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Alexander Thom
Toured the Nether Largie standing stones with Magnus Magnusson in 1970 and argued the site was a lunar observatory for predicting eclipses.
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Jon Patrick
Reassessed Thom's lunar-observatory hypothesis in 1979, doubting the stones were deliberately orientated on astronomical phenomena.
Cultural influences
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Concentration of rock art
The glen holds a remarkable concentration of some of the most impressive cup and ring decorated rock surfaces in Scotland, found on natural rock at Achnabreck, Cairnbaan, Ballygowan and Baluachraig near Kilmichael Glassary.
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The linear cemetery
Five surviving cairns run in a line over three miles south-by-southwest of the village; cropmarks and other traces suggest there may originally have been more, spanning Stone Age to Bronze Age construction.
Connections
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Photo: Otter / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 Dunadd
The fortress of the Scots and a royal centre of Dál Riata, on the edge of the Moine Mhòr to the south of the glen.
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Kilmartin Museum
Located in the village, it interprets and conserves the archaeological landscape and its artefacts.
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Bruach An Druimein
A site two kilometres south of Kilmartin where medieval glass beads with chemical compositions similar to finds at Dunadd suggest an association with Dunadd.
In culture
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Chronicle: Cracking the Stone Age Code
Alexander Thom toured the Nether Largie standing stones with Magnus Magnusson in 1970 for a BBC television documentary in which he called the site one of the most important, if not the most important, in Britain.
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Half Life
In 2007 Kilmartin Glen was the setting for Half Life, a piece of landscape art and performance created by the Scottish theatre company NVA in collaboration with the National Theatre of Scotland.
What to look for
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Nether Largie South chamber
A Clyde-type chambered cairn whose internal chamber, subdivided into four by floor slabs, is over 6m long, around 1.7m high and up to 1.8m wide, now exposed though once encased within the cairn.
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Axehead carving at Nether Largie Mid
Cup marks and a carving of an axehead can be seen on the southern cist of Nether Largie Mid Cairn, whose kerbstones still mark its former boundary.
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Nether Largie standing stones
Four menhirs arranged in pairs about 70 metres apart with a single central menhir, ringed by seven smaller stones and one fallen stone, with a further menhir a hundred metres to the northwest.
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Dunchraigaig deer carvings
Prehistoric carvings inside Dunchraigaig Cairn depicting two male red deer with full-grown forked horns, the largest deer species in Scotland at the time.
What is said
Folklore and tradition, recorded as what is said — not as established fact.
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The King's burial place
Ri Cruin Cairn is believed locally to be the possible burial place of a King. (legend)
Plan your visit
- Location
- General area near Argyll and Bute, Argyll and Bute
This is a sensitive or fragile site, so we show only its general area. Please check official heritage sources for access before visiting, and take care not to disturb it.
Nearby places
Tomb or burial place · Prehistoric
Glebe Cairn
Argyll and Bute
The northernmost cairn in Kilmartin Glen's Bronze Age linear cemetery, one of the richest concentrations of prehistoric ritual and burial monuments…
- Easy path
Tomb or burial place · Prehistoric
Nether Largie North Cairn
Argyll and Bute
Its carved capstone, marked with dozens of cup-marks and ten axe-head symbols, makes it one of the most vividly decorated Bronze Age burial monumen…
- Easy path
Tomb or burial place · Prehistoric
Nether Largie Mid Cairn
Argyll and Bute
It forms a central link in the Kilmartin Glen linear cemetery, one of Scotland's most concentrated groupings of prehistoric burial monuments.
- Easy path
Tomb or burial place · Prehistoric
Nether Largie South Chambered Cairn
Argyll and Bute
Nether Largie South is a Neolithic Clyde-type chambered cairn and the earliest monument in the Kilmartin Glen linear cemetery — the line of cairns…
- Near Kilmartin
- 7 min walk from car park
- Easy path
Questions people ask
- How many ancient monuments are there at Kilmartin Glen?
- There are more than 800 ancient monuments within a six-mile radius of Kilmartin village, of which about 150 are prehistoric, including standing stones, a henge, numerous cists and five burial cairns.
- What is the linear cemetery?
- It is a linear arrangement of five surviving burial cairns running over three miles south-by-southwest of Kilmartin village. Most are of Bronze Age origin, the exception being Nether Largie South, a Stone Age chambered cairn rebuilt in the Bronze Age.
- What are the cup and ring marks?
- They are carvings found on natural rock surfaces at sites such as Achnabreck, Cairnbaan, Ballygowan and Baluachraig; their purpose and precise date remain uncertain.
- What was discovered at Dunchraigaig Cairn in 2021?
- In May 2021 archaeologists announced prehistoric deer carvings inside Dunchraigaig Cairn, dated to the Neolithic or Early Bronze Age and the first carvings of their kind found in Scotland, depicting two male red deer with forked horns.
- Where can visitors learn about the glen?
- Kilmartin Museum, in the village of Kilmartin itself, interprets, explains and conserves the archaeological landscape, its artefacts and natural heritage.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Kilmartin Glen (accessed 2026-07-18)
- Kilmartin Museum (accessed 2026-07-18)
- BBC Archive – Chronicle: Cracking the Stone Age Code (accessed 2026-07-18)
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