THE people of the late Bronze Age left behind them mysterious standing stones in Caithness and elsewhere.

At Achavanich, near Lybster, there is a striking collection of stones which is now becoming more accessible to the public. The site, which lies on the single-track road off the Causewaymire that leads through Rumster Forest, consists of 36 slabs or stumps set in a long "U" shape. The peaceful surroundings give Achavanich a very special atmosphere.

Public access to Achavanich has been improved with the creation of a small parking area near the stones.

Chambers of secrets

CAITHNESS has many mysterious sites which date from beyond the dawn of written history – and perhaps the most famous are the Camster Cairns, situated four miles north-west of Lybster on the minor road to Watten. They were raised as burial monuments during the Neolithic age, more than 5000 years ago. The land was more fertile than it appears today and it is likely that the cairns were sited on the edge of good farmland.

These days the area of ground between the road and the cairns is quite boggy but a wooded boardwalk allows visitors to keep their feet dry.

The long cairn of Camster, the larger of the two, is 200ft long by 65ft wide. It has a main burial chamber which can be entered by a passage from the south side.

Camster round cairn, 55ft in diameter and 12ft high, is regarded by many experts as the finest chambered tomb of its period in Britain. The cairn is under official protection, and excavation has made the main chamber in the heart of the cairn accessible through the original entrance passage.

These mighty structures are believed to have been used over the centuries to bury ancient chiefs. They may have been built by people who worshipped a "Mother Earth" goddess as the provider of the grain crops which were essential to the survival of these communities.

Other notable chambered cairn sites in Caithness are the Cairn o’ Get, signposted from the A99 between Lybster and Wick, and Cnoc Freiceadain, near Dounreay.

Around 60 other cairns are known in the county but many of these are now little more than grassy mounds.

There are also numerous broch sites in the Far North.


Stone rows go back 4000 years

AN intriguing series of stone rows dating back some 4000 years can be seen at the Hill o’ Many Stanes, a few miles north of Lybster.

About 200 stones, most of them only knee-high, are set out in 22 rows running north and south, spreading out slightly towards the southern end. At one time there may have been as many as 600 stones covering the gently sloping field. An information plaque describes it as the largest and best-preserved of the multiple rows of small stones that were erected by the inhabitants of Caithness and eastern Sutherland about 4000 years ago.

Stone rows were used for gatherings and religious ceremonies and perhaps these monuments helped the early farmers to follow the solar and lunar cycles.

The Hill o’ Many Stanes is signposted from the A99.