1. A group of up to nine cairns, of different types and sizes, constructed within the lee of a prominent coastal outcrop on the northern tip of Skomer. Surveyed at 1:200 by John Evans' team in 1985, with the main cairns surveyed in detail at 1:20 by the Skomer Island Project in April 2018.

Summary of archaeological surveys
2. The cairn group is first mentioned by Grimes (1950, 9) who describes it thus; 'To the north near the cliff-edge is a small group of stones cairns [his site 1], one of which is almost circular, while the others are elongated, and in one case bank-like. The oval cairn certainly looks like a small burial-cairn; the others also, though less definite, may be grave-mounds of a less normal type, but are probably more likely to be heaps of stones cleared from the fields. There are four in all.' Grimes is perceptive in referring to the three elongated cairns as '...less normal' but it is disappointing that he concludes that they are simply the result of field clearance, an explanation which does not account for their complex and unusual construction.

Cairn Group 1 was subsequently planned at 1:200 scale by Ray Caple during Evan's campaign of survey in 1985 (not published). The cemetery is briefly described in the published gazetteer (Evans 1990, 256) thus; 'Nine cairns in the northernmost field of the northern sector, overlooked by a big rock outcrop. One cairn is on the outcrop. Most are roughly circular, 3m across and no more than 0.5m high, but two are elongate, c. 4m long and 0.55m high. Some have hints of kerbs and larger stones than is usual for clearance cairns..'

Evans' observations show progress from Grimes, noting the cairns are sited in the lee of a big outcrop and drawing attention to the elongated character of two and the use of larger stones and kerbs in the group suggesting they are unlikely to have resulted from field clearance alone.

The cairns were not planned or studied in detail until 2018 during the present Skomer Island Project; a brief visual assessment of the cairns in April 2017 highlighted their very unusual morphology and construction. However an earlier survey of the northern fields (Barker et al., 2012) at the start of the project did make a significant observation about the siting of the cairn group and the character of the immediate field systems to each side. Johnston (ibid., 293-4) writes: 'The two boundaries on either side of the cairnfield are also worthy of note. They radiate from an enclosure constructed against the central area of high ground, and were two of the most complex surveyed, incorporating features such as pairs of orthostats. Could these represent a principal phase in the development of the fields, not only framing and adding significance to an earlier cairnfield but also providing the focal point from which the other fields developed?'. The suggests that a - conventionally - Bronze Age cairn cemetery was purposely sited in the lee of a northern outcrop facing the sea; that this sacred area was subsequently respected in the layout of the later prehistoric field systems which deliberately divided to the east and west of the cairnfield and its outcrop, leaving the sacred area untouched by later agricultural enclosure and subdivision.

Reconsideration of dating, 2025

3. The possible dating of elongated Cairns B and C can be reviewed in the light of the 2011 discovery of a small Viking boat burial on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula (Harris et al 2017). This is described thus;

'The site was initially recorded as a low-lying mound close to the foreshore...excavation established that the mound itself was natural, with a central, cut feature, within which a substantial number of medium to large stones had been placed in a boat-shaped setting, including two layers of kerbing around the edge of the cut. The arrangement measured 5.2 × 1.7m at its widest point and was orientated west-south-west to east-north-east. A spearhead and shield boss were recovered from amongst the stones, presumably included as part of the process of closing the grave.'

The measurement of 5.2 x 1.7m compares favourably to the oval Cairn C which measures 4.4 x 1.30m, and perhaps also oval Cairn B which is smaller at 3.1 x 1.9m. Recent field inspection was carried out by Toby Driver, Louise Barker and Julian Whitewright for RCAHMW in April 2025.

Toby Driver, RCAHMW, April 2025

The cairns: description (April 2018).

Cairn A: 2. 2.0m x 1. 40m. Exposed stone cairn mass - nearly rectangular - with single flat laid header and footer stones.

Cairn B. Oval cairn measuring 3.1m x 1.9m but with a pair of large flat laid 'footer' stones set at N end extending cairn by 0.9m. The cairn has a max height of 0.3m with a high rounded cairn mass of packed stones. Upright stones on the W side, and flat stones edging the mound at both ends, suggest remnants of a formal kerb.

Cairn C: The most elaborate and largest of the group. 4.40m x 1.30m at 'head' (west end) narrowing to 1.0m. Transverse set head stone, 0.58m x 0.22m x 0.3m high. Compact cairn mass of larger stones with 'footer' kerb stone at east end. Irregular line of cairn stones within body of cairn suggesting disturbance following construction or even digging into sides of mound.

Cairn D. Almost indiscernible. Very low turf covered stones around an earthfast Rock, c. 1.10m diameter.

Cairn E. Similar to cairn A in size and structure measuring 2.80m x 2.20m. Pronounced kerb of flat laid angular stones where not turf covered. Dense packed cairn mass. Low, rounded form. Sited close to outcrop.

Cairn F. Measuring 2.40.m x 2.0m. Very low and indistinct mound. One or two small stones visible through turf, otherwise a turf mound where disturbed by burrowing.

Cairn G. One or two earth fast natural rocks visible in otherwise heavily burrowed area of ground, with turf hummocks and many bluebells. Cairn cannot be identified with any certainty.

Cairn H. Small but distinct cairn of angular stones 0.6m x 0.5m stacked against triangular earth fast rock, the whole forming an apparent triangular stone setting in plan.

Cairn I: Described and planned by Caple in 1985 as a collection of stones against the edge of the outcrop, this site could not be identified today with any certainty.

T. Driver, RCAHMW, surveyed 19 April 2018. Updated 2025

References:

Barker, L., Davis, O., Driver, T. and Johnston, R. 2012. Puffins amidst prehistory: reinterpreting the complex landscape of Skomer Island, in: Britnell, W. J. and Silvester, R. J. Reflections on the Past, Essays in Honour of Frances Lynch. Cambrian Archaeological Association. Welshpool. 280-302.

Driver, T, Williams, D. and Johnston, B. 2018. Skomer Island: Geophysical prospection and excavation in Well Meadow, west of the Farm. RCAHMW. Unpublished report.

Driver, T. 2020. Skomer Island: Survey and recording of a cairn cemetery, Cairn Group 1, on north Skomer. RCAHMW. Unpublished report.

Evans, J. G. 1990. An archaeological survey of Skomer, Dyfed. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 56, 247-67.

Grimes, W.F. 1950. The archaeology of Skomer Island, Archaeologia Cambrensis 101, 1-20.

Harris, O., Cobb, H., Batey, C., Montgomery, J., Beaumont, J., Gray, H., Murtagh, P. and Richardson, P. 2017. Assembling places and persons: a tenth-century Viking boat burial from Swordle Bay on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, western Scotland. Antiquity, January 2017: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/assembling-places-and-persons-a-tenthcentury-viking-boat-burial-from-swordle-bay-on-the-ardnamurchan-peninsula-western-scotland/77752CA983D55D191B702EC081941CD4/share/580a883b30e2a7fcb0233bf53273c7130fd420bd7855772bddc8e47fde5f028a

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