Cairnpapple in the Snow

Cairnpapple in the Snow

This picture of Cairnpapple in the Snow is for sale.

It comes as a canvas (from £50.00), or an unframed print (from £1.20).

Why not take a look at my other pictures of West Lothian.

Cairnpapple sits in the Bathgate Hills, high above Linlithgow. At the top of the hill, an ancient stone circle was built 4000 years ago by the beaker people. It is considered to be the most important archaeological site in mainland Scotland. In the centre of the circle, following excavation work in 1947, a hollow concrete bunker replaced the solid earth and stone cairn that was originally in place, and which covered the body of someone who is presumed to have been a very powerful figure.

Inside the concrete bunker, the grave has been reconstructed.

The circular pit in the foreground contained cremated remains dating back to around 2700BC. Finds in the pit included a stone axe from the neolithic "factory" at Great Langdale in Cumbria.