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Acairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as aburial mound. The wordcairn comes from theScottish Gaelic:càrn[ˈkʰaːrˠn̪ˠ] (pluralcàirn[ˈkʰaːrˠɲ]).[1]
Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. Inprehistory, they were raised as markers, as memorials and as burial monuments (some of whichcontained chambers).
In themodern era, cairns are often raised as landmarks, especially to mark the summits of mountains, and astrail markers. They vary in size from small piles of stones to entire artificial hills, and in complexity from loose conical rock piles to elaboratemegalithic structures. Cairns may be painted or otherwise decorated, whether for increased visibility or for religious reasons.
The building of cairns for various purposes goes back intoprehistory inEurasia, ranging in size from small rock sculptures to substantial human-made hills of stone (some built on top of larger, natural hills).[2] The latter are often relatively massiveBronze Age or earlier structures which, like kistvaens anddolmens, frequently contain burials; they are comparable totumuli (kurgans), but of stone construction instead ofearthworks.[3]Cairn originally could more broadly refer to various types of hills and natural stone piles, but today is used exclusively of artificial ones.
The wordcairn derives fromScotscairn (with the same meaning), in turn fromScottish Gaeliccàrn, which is essentially the same as the corresponding words in other nativeCeltic languages ofBritain,Ireland andBrittany, includingWelshcarn (andcarnedd),Bretonkarn,Irishcarn, andCornishkarn orcarn.[2] Cornwall (Kernow) itself may actually be named after the cairns that dot its landscape, such as Cornwall's highest point,Brown Willy Summit Cairn, a 5 m (16 ft) high and 24 m (79 ft) diameter mound atopBrown Willy hill inBodmin Moor, an area with many ancient cairns. Burial cairns and othermegaliths are the subject of a variety of legends and folklore throughout Britain and Ireland. InScotland, it is traditional to carry a stone up from the bottom of a hill to place on a cairn at its top. In such a fashion, cairns would grow ever larger. An old Scottish Gaelic blessing isCuiridh mi clach air do chàrn, "I'll put a stone on your cairn".[4] In Highland folklore it is recounted that before Highland clans fought in a battle, each man would place a stone in a pile. Those who survived the battle returned and removed a stone from the pile. The stones that remained were built into a cairn to honour the dead.[citation needed] Cairns in the region were also put to vital practical use. For example,Dún Aonghasa, an all-stoneIron Age Irishhill fort onInishmore in theAran Islands, is still surrounded by small cairns and strategically placed jutting rocks, used collectively as an alternative todefensive earthworks because of thekarst landscape's lack of soil.[citation needed] In February 2020, ancient cairns dated back to 4,500 year-old used to bury the leaders or chieftains of neolithic tribes people were revealed in the Cwmcelyn inBlaenau Gwent by the Aberystruth Archaeological Society.[5]
InScandinavia, cairns have been used for centuries as trail and sea marks, among other purposes, the most notable being theThree-Country Cairn. InIceland, cairns were often used as markers along the numerous single-file roads or paths that crisscrossed the island; many of these ancient cairns are still standing, although the paths have disappeared. InNorse Greenland, cairns were used as a hunting implement, a game-driving "lane", used to direct reindeer towards agame jump.[6][full citation needed]
In the mythology of ancient Greece, cairns were associated withHermes, the god of overland travel.[7] According to one legend, Hermes was put on trial byHera for slaying her favorite servant, the monsterArgus. All of the other gods acted as a jury, and as a way of declaring their verdict they were given pebbles, and told to throw them at whichever person they deemed to be in the right, Hermes or Hera. Hermes argued so skillfully that he ended up buried under a heap of pebbles, and this was the first cairn.InCroatia, in areas of ancientDalmatia, such asHerzegovina and theKrajina, they are known asgromila.[citation needed]
In Portugal, a cairn is called amoledro. In a legend themoledros are enchanted soldiers, and if one stone is taken from the pile and put under a pillow, in the morning a soldier will appear for a brief moment, then will change back to a stone and magically return to the pile.[8] The cairns that mark the place where someone died or cover the graves alongside the roads where in the past people were buried are calledFiéis de Deus. The same name given to the stones was given to the dead whose identity was unknown.[9]
Cairns (taalo) are a common feature atEl Ayo,Haylan,Qa'ableh,Qombo'ul,Heis,Salweyn andGelweita, among other places.Somalia in general is home to a lot of such historical settlements andarchaeological sites wherein are found numerous ancient ruins and buildings, many of obscure origins.[10] However, many of these old structures have yet to be properly explored, a process which would help shed further light on local history and facilitate their preservation for posterity.[11]
SinceNeolithic times, the climate ofNorth Africa has become drier. A reminder of thedesertification of the area is provided bymegalithic remains, which occur in a great variety of forms and in vast numbers in presently arid and uninhabitable wastelands: cairns (kerkour),dolmens and circles likeStonehenge, underground cells excavated in rock,barrows topped with huge slabs, and steppyramid-like mounds.[12]
The Biblical place nameGilead (mentioned in the Old Testament books ofGenesis,Numbers,Judges and elsewhere) means literally 'a heap of testimony (or evidence)' as does its Aramaic translationYegarSahaduta.[13] In modern Hebrew,gal-'ed (גל-עד) is the actual word for "cairn". InGenesis 31 the cairn of Gilead was set up as a border demarcation betweenJacob and his father-in-lawLaban at their last meeting.[14]
Starting in theBronze Age, burialcists were sometimes interred into cairns, which would be situated in conspicuous positions, often on the skyline above the village of the deceased. Though most often found in the British Isles, evidence of Bronze Age cists have been found inMongolia.[15] The stones may have been thought to deter grave robbers and scavengers. Another explanation is that they were tostop the dead from rising. There remains aJewish tradition of placing small stones on a person's grave as a token of respect, known asvisitation stones, though this is generally to relate the longevity of stone to the eternal nature of the soul and is not usually done in a cairn fashion.[16]Stupas in India andTibet probably started out in a similar fashion, although they now generally contain the ashes of aBuddhist saint orlama.[citation needed]
A traditional and often decorated, heap-formed cairn called anovoo is made inMongolia. It primarily serves religious purposes, and finds use in bothTengriist andBuddhist ceremonies. Ovoos were also often used as landmarks and meeting points in traditional nomadicMongolian culture. Traditional ceremonies still take place at ovoos today, and in a survey conducted, 75 participants out of 144 participants stated that they believe in ovoo ceremonies. However, mining and other industrial operations today threaten the ovoos[17]
InHawaii, cairns, called by theHawaiian wordahu, are still being built today. Though in other cultures, the cairns were typically used as trail markers and sometimes funerary sites, the ancient Hawaiians also used them as altars or security towers.[clarification needed][18] The Hawaiian people are still building these cairns today, using them as the focal points for ceremonies honoring their ancestors and spirituality.[19]
InSouth Korea, cairns are quite prevalent, often found along roadsides and trails, up on mountain peaks, and adjacent to Buddhist temples. Hikers frequently add stones to existing cairns trying to get just one more on top of the pile, to bring good luck. This tradition has its roots in the worship of San-shin, or Mountain Spirit, so often still revered in Korean culture.[20]
Throughout what today are thecontinental United States and Canada, someIndigenous peoples of the Americas have built structures similar to cairns. In some cases, these are general trail markers, and in other cases they mark game-driving "lanes", such as those leading tobuffalo jumps.[21]
Peoples from some of the Indigenous cultures of arctic North America (i.e. northern Canada,Alaska andGreenland) have built carefully constructed stone sculptures calledinuksuit andinunnguat, which serve as landmarks and directional markers. The oldest of these structures are very old and pre-datecontact with Europeans. They are iconic of the region (aninuksuk even features on the flag of the Canadian far-northeastern territory,Nunavut).[24]
Cairns have been used throughout what is nowLatin America, sincepre-Columbian times, to mark trails. Even today, in theAndes ofSouth America, theQuechuan peoples build cairns as part of their spiritual and religious traditions.[25]
Cairns can be used to mark hiking trails, especially in mountain regions at or above thetree line. Placed at regular intervals, a series of cairns can be used to indicate a path across stony or barren terrain.
Coastal cairns calledsea marks are also common in the northern latitudes, especially in the island-strewn waters ofScandinavia and eastern Canada. They are placed along shores and on islands and islets. Usually painted white for improved offshore visibility, they serve asnavigation aids. In Sweden, they are calledkummel, in Finlandkummeli, in Norwayvarde, and are indicated in navigation charts and maintained as part of the nautical marking system.[26]
Concerns have been raised over the construction of needless cairns.[27]
TheHawaiian Volcano Observatory asks visitors to say “no” to rock piles after a surge in the creation of cairns by visitors. The construction of these rock formations comes at the cost of important geological features that visitors pry rocks off of. The practice is viewed as an act of graffiti on the landscape of the park.[28]
TheUS National Park Service has a set of rules regarding public interaction with cairns found within the boundaries of the park. Falling within the rules set by theLeave No Trace rule, thePark Service has three rules:
This guideline is made with the intent of preventing needless cairns created by visitors and preventing the destruction of important trail-marking cairns.[29]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cairn".Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
