Scottish Highlands - Prehistoric Sites

The Grey Cairns of Camster are a pair of Neolithic chambered cairns (circa 2000-3500 BC), one round and the other linear, in a secluded hollow near the River Wick. The Camster cairns are considered among the best preserved in Britain and have been carefully restored so that visitors can access the inner chambers.
Roster, Highlands, Highlands and Islands, Scotland

Heritage Rating:   ?

Nearest: Hotels - Self Catering - Bed and Breakfasts

There are at least 80 ancient settlement sites along the machair of western South Uist. Of these, Cladh Hallan is one of the most recent to be excavated. Tucked into a high bank in the encroaching machair are three complete roundhouses and a small smokehouse for curing meat. The buildings date to the Late Bronze Age and early Iron Age, about 1100-200 BCE). About 100 metres away is a second smokehouse dated to around 200 BCE.
Dalabrog, South Uist, Highlands and Islands, Scotland

Heritage Rating:   ?

Nearest: Hotels - Self Catering - Bed and Breakfasts

Hill O' Many Stanes consists of over 22 rows of small Bronze Age stones arranged in a fan shape along a sloping hillside. There is no clear indication of why the stones were arranged as they are, but one theory is that the stones were set up as a form of early astronomical observatory, or even a graveyard for Picts.
Wick, Highlands, Highlands and Islands, Scotland

Attraction Type: Prehistoric - Standing Stones
Heritage Rating:   ?

Nearest: Hotels - Self Catering - Bed and Breakfasts

Three Neolithic cairns stand on the remote, uninhabited island of Holm of Papa Westray. The largest cairn has 12 inner chambers and boasts peculiar carvings on interior lintels.
Holm of Papa Westray, Orkney, Highlands and Islands, Scotland

Heritage Rating:   ?

Heritage Highlight: The south cairn has unusual carvings including 'eyebrow' symbols
Nearest: Hotels - Self Catering - Bed and Breakfasts

Jarlshof is an extraordinary complex at the southern tip of Shetland's Mainland is not one archaeological site but several, with ruins spanning 4000 years in one location. The 3-acre site contains Neolithic houses, a Bronze Age village, an Iron Age settlement and broch, a Viking village, a medieval farm, and a 16th-century laird's hall.
Sumburgh Head, Mainland, Highlands and Islands, Scotland, ZE3 9JN

Heritage Rating:   ?

Heritage Highlight: 4000 years of historic remains in one site
Nearest: Hotels - Self Catering - Bed and Breakfasts

A pair of ancient stones stands above the shore of Loch Eyre at Kensaleyre, on the west coast of Skye's Trotternish Peninsula. In legend, the stones were used by the warrior Fingal and his band of hunters to suspend a cooking pot so big that it could hold a whole deer.
A87, Uig, Isle of Skye, Highlands and Islands, Scotland

Heritage Rating:   ?

Heritage Highlight: Links to the legend of Fingal
Nearest: Hotels - Self Catering - Bed and Breakfasts

The Kilvaxter Souterrain is a restored underground Iron Age storage tunnnel on the west coast of Skye's Trotternish peninsula. Intrepid visitors can navigate the 17m long tunnel, and an interpretive panel explains the site.
A855, Kilvaxter, Isle of Skye, Highlands and Islands, Scotland

Heritage Rating:   ?

Heritage Highlight: The easiest souterrain to visit on Skye
Nearest: Hotels - Self Catering - Bed and Breakfasts

A pair of remarkable early Neolithic stone houses stands at Knap of Howar. The houses feature stone cupboards and stalls and are believed to be the oldest houses in this region of Europe.
Holland, Papa Westray, Orkney, Highlands and Islands, Scotland

Heritage Rating:   ?

Heritage Highlight: One of the oldest houses in Europe
Nearest: Hotels - Self Catering - Bed and Breakfasts

The Knocknagael Boar Stone is a Pictish slab carved with the likeness of a boar, along with a traditional mirror case symbol. The stone was found at Knocknagael, south of Inverness. It was moved to the Highlands Council Offices in Inverness in an attempt to counteract the effects of weathering on the already much-worn carvings.
Highland Council Offices, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness, Highlands and Islands, Scotland, IV3 5NX

Attraction Type: Prehistoric - Carved Stone
Heritage Rating:   ?

Heritage Highlight: Unusual boar carving
Nearest: Hotels - Self Catering - Bed and Breakfasts

Knowe of Yarso is a Neolithic chambered cairn on the south coast of Rousay island, facing across the straits to the Broch of Gurness on Orkney Mainland. The oval cairn is made up of concentric walls around a central chamber divided into three separate compartments.
Rousay, Frotoft, Orkney, Highlands and Islands, Scotland

Heritage Rating:   ?

Nearest: Hotels - Self Catering - Bed and Breakfasts