Editing Cairn

{{short description|Human-made pile of stones or burial monument}}
{{about|human-made stone mounds|the Australian city|Cairns|other uses|Cairn (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Rock pile|other uses|rockpile (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2014}}
{{use dmy|date=April 2024}}
[[File:Cairn at Garvera, Surselva, Graubuenden, Switzerland.jpg|right|thumb|200px|A cairn marking a mountain summit in [[Graubünden]], [[Switzerland]].]]
[[File:Maeve's Grave - geograph.org.uk - 254449.jpg|thumb|The biggest cairn in Ireland, [[Maeve's Cairn]] on [[Knocknarea]].]]
A '''cairn''' is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a [[burial mound]]. The word ''cairn'' comes from the {{langx|ga|carn}} {{IPA|gd|ˈkʰaːrˠn̪ˠ||}} (plural {{lang|gd|cairn}} {{IPA|gd|ˈkʰaːrˠɲ||}}).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Drummond |first1=Peter |title=Scottish hill names: The origin and meaning of the names of Scotland's hills and mountains |date=2007 |publisher=Scottish Mountaineering Trust; Distributed by Cordee |location=Glasgow; Leicester |isbn=978-0-907521-95-2 |page=25 |edition=2nd}}
* See also: {{cite book |last1=Drummond |first1=Peter |title=Scottish hill and mountain names: The origin and meaning of the names of Scotland's hills and mountains |date=1991 |publisher=Scottish Mountaineering Trust; Distributed by Cordee |location=Glasgow; Leicester |isbn=978-0-907521-30-3 |pages=26–27 |edition=first |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/scottishhillmoun0000drum/page/26/mode/2up}}</ref>

Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In [[prehistory]], they were raised as markers, as memorials and as burial monuments (some of which [[Chambered cairn|contained chambers]]). 

In the [[modern era]], cairns are often raised as landmarks, especially to mark the summits of mountains, and as [[Trail blazing|trail markers]]. They vary in size from small piles of stones to entire artificial hills, and in complexity from loose conical rock piles to elaborate [[megalith]]ic structures. Cairns may be painted or otherwise decorated, whether for increased visibility or for religious reasons.

==History==
===Europe===
[[File:Carrowkeel Passage Tomb - geograph.org.uk - 1929464.jpg|thumb|One of the cairns at [[Carrowkeel Megalithic Cemetery]] in Ireland, which covers a [[passage tomb]].]]
The building of cairns for various purposes goes back into [[prehistory]] in [[Eurasia]], ranging in size from small rock sculptures to substantial human-made hills of stone (some built on top of larger, natural hills).<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last1=Kay |first1=Mike |author2=((The Frederick County Forestry Board)) |title=Building of cairns has long history |url=https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/environment/building-of-cairns-has-long-history/article_f6753a77-b84a-5c69-b851-32d5e76f4dc5.html |access-date=2022-09-20 |work=The Frederick News-Post |date=17 January 2016 |language=en}}</ref> The latter are often relatively massive [[Bronze Age]] or earlier structures which, like kistvaens and [[dolmen]]s, frequently contain burials; they are comparable to [[tumuli]] ([[kurgan]]s), but of stone construction instead of [[Earthworks (engineering)|earthworks]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mark |first=Joshua J. |title=Clava Cairns |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Clava_Cairns/ |access-date=2022-09-20 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref> ''Cairn'' originally could more broadly refer to various types of hills and natural stone piles, but today is used exclusively of artificial ones.
[[File:Gavrinis cairn.jpg|thumb|Cairn of the [[Neolithic]]-era [[passage tomb]] on [[Gavrinis]] island, [[Brittany]]]]

==== Ireland and Britain ====

The word ''cairn'' derives from [[Irish language|Irish]] (with the same meaning), which is essentially the same as the corresponding words in other native [[Celtic language]]s of [[Ireland]], [[Brittany]] and [[Great Britain|Britain]], , including [[Welsh language|Welsh]] {{lang|cy|carn}} (and {{lang|cy|carnedd}}), [[Breton language|Breton]] {{lang|br|karn}}, [[Irish language|Irish]] {{lang|ga|carn}}, and [[Cornish language|Cornish]] {{lang|kw|karn}} or {{lang|kw|carn}}.<ref name=":0" /> Cornwall ({{lang|kw|Kernow}}) itself may actually be named after the cairns that dot its landscape, such as Cornwall's highest point, [[Brown Willy Cairns|Brown Willy Summit Cairn]], a 5&nbsp;m (16&nbsp;ft) high and 24&nbsp;m (79&nbsp;ft) diameter mound atop [[Brown Willy]] hill in [[Bodmin Moor]], an area with many ancient cairns. Burial cairns and other [[megalith]]s are the subject of a variety of legends and folklore throughout Ireland and Britain. In [[Ireland]], 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 is {{lang|gd|Cuiridh mi clach air do chàrn}}, "I'll put a stone on your cairn".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cairns of Scotland |url=https://www.scotland.com/blog/cairns-of-scotland/ |access-date=2022-09-20 |website=Scotland.com |language=en-US}}</ref> 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|date=September 2022}} Cairns in the region were also put to vital practical use. For example, [[Dún Aonghasa]], an all-stone [[Iron Age]] Irish [[hill fort]] on [[Inishmore]] in the [[Aran Islands]], is still surrounded by small cairns and strategically placed jutting rocks, used collectively as an alternative to [[Defensive wall|defensive earthworks]] because of the [[karst]] landscape's lack of soil.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}} 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 in [[Blaenau Gwent]] by the Aberystruth Archaeological Society.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Lewis|date=2020-03-29|title=The new Neolithic site that's been discovered in Blaenau Gwent|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/new-neolithic-site-thats-been-17986546|access-date=2020-09-09|website=WalesOnline}}</ref>{{clear|left}}

==== Scandinavia and Iceland ====
In [[Scandinavia]], cairns have been used for centuries as trail and sea marks, among other purposes, the most notable being the [[Three-Country Cairn]]. In [[Iceland]], 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. In [[Norse Greenland]], cairns were used as a hunting implement, a game-driving "lane", used to direct reindeer towards a [[game jump]].<ref>Arneborg 2004{{fcn|date=April 2024}}</ref>{{fcn|date=April 2024}}

==== Greece and the Balkans ====
In the mythology of ancient Greece, cairns were associated with [[Hermes]], the god of overland travel.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Doyle |first1=Jessica |editor1=Gabriel Cooney |editor2=Bernard Gilhooly |editor3=Niamh Kelly |editor4=Sol Mallía-Guest |title=Cultures of stone: An interdisciplinary approach to the materiality of stone |date=2020 |publisher=Sidestone Press |location=Leiden |isbn=978-90-8890-893-4 |pages=261–274 |chapter=All of a Heap: Hermes and the stone cairn in Greek antiquity|url=https://www.academia.edu/43289833}}</ref> According to one legend, Hermes was put on trial by [[Hera]] for slaying her favorite servant, the monster [[Argus Panoptes|Argus]]. 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.
In [[Croatia]], in areas of ancient [[Dalmatia]], such as [[Herzegovina]] and the [[Krajina]], they are known as ''gromila''.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}

==== Portugal ====
In Portugal, a cairn is called a {{lang|pt|moledro}}. In a legend the {{lang|pt|moledros}} 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.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Genética e a Teoria da Continuidade Paleolítica aplicada à Lenda da Fundação de Portugal e Escócia Apenas Livros|year=2008|isbn=978-989-618-180-2|url=http://www.continuitas.org/texts/morais_genetica.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725195132/http://www.continuitas.org/texts/morais_genetica.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-25 |url-status=live|language=pt}}</ref> The cairns that mark the place where someone died or cover the graves alongside the roads where in the past people were buried are called {{lang|pt|Fiéis de Deus}}. The same name given to the stones was given to the dead whose identity was unknown.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SoUyAQAAMAAJ&q=Diccionario+da+lingua+portugueza:+recopilado+dos+vocabularios+impressos |title=Diccionario da lingua portugueza: recopilado dos vocabularios impressos até agora, e nesta segunda edição novamente emendado, e muito accrescentado|volume=2 |page=31 |access-date=2013-05-30|year=1813 |last1=Silva |first1=António de Morais |language=pt}}</ref>

===North and northeast Africa===
[[File:Qableh3.JPG|thumb|right|Ancient cairns in [[Qa'ableh]], [[Somalia]]]]
Cairns (''taalo'') are a common feature at [[El Ayo]], [[Haylan]], [[Qa'ableh]], [[Qombo'ul]], [[Heis (town)|Heis]], [[Salweyn]] and [[Gelweita]], among other places. [[Somalia]] in general is home to a lot of such historical settlements and [[archaeological site]]s wherein are found numerous ancient ruins and buildings, many of obscure origins.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Davies |first1=Matthew I. J. |title=Stone cairns across eastern Africa: a critical review |journal=Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa |date=June 2013 |volume=48 |issue=2: ''Monumentality in Africa'' |pages=218–240 |doi=10.1080/0067270X.2013.789207 |url=https://www.academia.edu/3047342}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Hodd">{{cite book |editor1-last=Hodd |editor1-first=Michael |others=Cartographer: Sebastian Ballard |title=1995 East African Handbook (with Mauritius, Madagascar and Seychelles) |date=September 1994 |publisher=Trade & Travel Publications |location=Bath, England |isbn=978-0-900751-59-2 |page=640 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/eastafricanhandb0000unse_n3k5/page/640/mode/2up}}</ref>

Since [[Neolithic]] times, the climate of [[North Africa]] has become drier. A reminder of the [[desertification]] of the area is provided by [[megalith]]ic remains, which occur in a great variety of forms and in vast numbers in presently arid and uninhabitable wastelands: cairns (''kerkour''), [[dolmen]]s and circles like [[Stonehenge]], underground cells excavated in rock, [[Long barrow|barrows]] topped with huge slabs, and step [[pyramid]]-like mounds.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Belmonte |first1=Juan Antonio |last2=Betancort |first2=M. A. Perera |last3=Marrero |first3=Rita |last4=Gaspar |first4=Antonio Tejera |title=The dolmens and 'Hawanat' of Africa Proconsularis revisited |date=2003 |volume=34 |issue=116 |page=305 |url=https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2003JHA....34..305B |access-date=2022-09-20 |journal=Journal for the History of Astronomy |bibcode=2003JHA....34..305B |doi=10.1177/002182860303400304 |s2cid=125239058 |issn=0021-8286}}</ref>

===Middle East===
[[File:Rock Cairn.jpg|thumb|Cairn in the Judean mountains]]
The Biblical place name [[Gilead]] (mentioned in the Old Testament books of [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], [[Numbers 32|Numbers]], [[Book of Judges|Judges]] and elsewhere) means literally 'a heap of testimony (or evidence)' as does its Aramaic translation ''[[s:A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature/יגל - יד|Yegar]] [[s:A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature/סדרא - סהר|Sahaduta]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title = Bible Map: Gilead |website=Bible Hub – Bible Atlas |url=https://bibleatlas.org/gilead.htm}}</ref> In modern Hebrew, ''gal-'ed'' ([[:he: גל-עד|גל-עד]]) is the actual word for "cairn". In [[s: Bible (King James)/Genesis#31|Genesis 31]] the cairn of Gilead was set up as a border demarcation between [[Jacob]] and his father-in-law [[Laban (Bible)|Laban]] at their last meeting.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bible Map: Galeed (Ramoth-gilead) |url=https://bibleatlas.org/galeed.htm |access-date=2022-09-21 |website=Bible Hub – Bible Atlas}}</ref>

===Asia and the Pacific===

[[File:TallOvoo.JPG|thumb|right|A Mongolian ceremonial cairn (''[[ovoo]]'')]]
Starting in the [[Bronze Age]], burial [[cist]]s 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 in [[Mongolia]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Houle |first1=Jean-Luc |chapter=Bronze Age Mongolia |editor1=((Oxford Handbooks Editorial Board)) |title=The Oxford Handbook of Topics in Archaeology |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |edition=Online|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935413.013.20 |chapter-url= https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935413.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935413-e-20 |isbn=978-0-19-993541-3}}</ref> The stones may have been thought to deter grave robbers and scavengers. Another explanation is that they were to [[Revenant (folklore)|stop the dead from rising]]. There remains a [[Judaism|Jewish]] tradition of placing small stones on a person's grave as a token of respect, known as [[visitation 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why Do Jews Put Pebbles on Tombstones? |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3002484/jewish/Why-Do-Jews-Put-Pebbles-on-Tombstones.htm |website=chabad.org}}</ref> [[Stupa]]s in India and [[Tibet]] probably started out in a similar fashion, although they now generally contain the ashes of a [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] saint or [[lama]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}

A traditional and often decorated, heap-formed cairn called an ''[[ovoo]]'' is made in [[Mongolia]]. It primarily serves religious purposes, and finds use in both [[Tengriism|Tengriist]] and [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] ceremonies. Ovoos were also often used as landmarks and meeting points in traditional nomadic [[Culture of Mongolia|Mongolian 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<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dilemma of the Sacred Lands: Preserving Mongolia's Ovoos |url=https://thediplomat.com/2022/05/dilemma-of-the-sacred-lands-preserving-mongolias-ovoos/ |access-date=2022-09-21 |website=thediplomat.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

In [[Hawaii]], cairns, called by the [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]] word {{lang|haw|ahu}}, 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.{{clarify|date=January 2021}}<ref>{{cite web |title=A Cultural History of Three Traditional Hawaiian Sites on the West Coast of Hawai'i Island |url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/kona/historyg.htm |website=National Park Service |access-date=14 November 2019}}</ref> The Hawaiian people are still building these cairns today, using them as the focal points for ceremonies honoring their ancestors and spirituality.<ref>{{cite web |title=About UH Mānoa Campus' Ahu |url=https://manoa.hawaii.edu/hshk/the-school/about-us/about-uh-manoa-campus-ahu/ |website=Hawai‘inuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge |access-date=14 November 2019}}</ref>

In [[South 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.<ref name="san">{{cite book | title=Spirit of the Mountains - Korea's San-Shin and Traditions of Mountain Worship| last=Mason| first=David| year=1999| page=41| publisher=Hollym International Corp.| location=Seoul, South Korea; Elizabeth, New Jersey (US)| isbn=1-56591-107-5}}</ref>

===The Americas===
Throughout what today are the [[continental United States]] and Canada, some [[Indigenous 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 to [[buffalo jump]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=World Heritage List: Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/158/ |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |language=en}}</ref>

==== Religious Practices (North America)   ====

* Stacked rock features have been noted to have religious significance to the [[Klamath people|Klamath]] and [[Modoc people|Modoc]] Tribes of indigenous people of the [[Western United States]], the respective tribes prohibiting photography of or touching the stone formations. These cairn-like structures are noted to be constructed for ritual and prayer purposes. Indigenous tribes practiced piling rocks (forming a rock cairn) as a step in a series of physically demanding tasks in part of a ritual to receive what they call spirit dreams. This practice is part of the [[vision quest]] ritual within the [[Rite of passage|puberty rite]] the boys of the tribe undergo.<ref name="Haynal 2000 170–185">{{Cite journal |last=Haynal |first=Patrick M. |date=2000 |title=The Influence of Sacred Rock Cairns and Prayer Seats on Modern Klamath and Modoc Religion and World View |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27825729 |journal=Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=170–185 |jstor=27825729 |issn=0191-3557}}</ref>
* Cairns were often used to mark the cremation sites for burial practices. When the [[Klamath people|Klamath]] tribe traveled within their territory, a person may pass away during this period. If the death occurs away from their village, the passed person would be buried near where they passed and a cairn would be constructed to mark this site. Burial cairns constructed by indigenous people, taking the shape of stone mounds, have been found throughout the Midwest and South of the United States. These mounds are typically made in large piles and mark the burial site, also protecting it from wildlife.<ref name="Haynal 2000 170–185"/><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Muller |first=Norman |date=2003 |title=The Cairns in our Midst: Historic or Prehistoric |url=https://neara.org/pdf/cairns.pdf |journal=NEARA Journal |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=5–12 |via=NEARA}}</ref>

Peoples from some of the Indigenous cultures of arctic North America (i.e. northern Canada, [[Alaska]] and [[Greenland]]) have built carefully constructed stone sculptures called [[Inuksuk|{{lang|iu|inuksuit|nocat=yes}} and {{lang|iu|inunnguat|nocat=yes}}]], which serve as landmarks and directional markers. The oldest of these structures are very old and pre-date [[European colonization of the Americas|contact with Europeans]]. They are iconic of the region (an {{lang|iu|inuksuk}} even features on the flag of the Canadian far-northeastern territory, [[Nunavut]]).<ref name=BBCNHSC>{{cite web
 | title = British Block Cairn National Historic Site of Canada
 | url = https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=14944
 | website = Canada's Historic Places
 | date = December 23, 2009 | access-date = November 14, 2019}}</ref>

Cairns have been used throughout what is now [[Latin America]], since [[pre-Columbian]] times, to mark trails. Even today, in the [[Andes]] of [[South America]], the [[Quechuan]] peoples build cairns as part of their spiritual and religious traditions.<ref name=APC>{{cite web
 | title = Apachetas of Chivay
 | url = https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/apachetas-of-alto-de-chivay
 | website = Atlas Obscura
 | date = 2019
 | access-date = November 14, 2019}}</ref>

==Today==
[[File:Cairn Northumberland and Durham.jpg|thumb|Cairn at the boundary of Counties Durham and Northumberland, England]]

Cairns can be used to mark hiking trails, especially in mountain regions at or above the [[tree line]]. Placed at regular intervals, a series of cairns can be used to indicate a path across stony or barren terrain.

===Sea cairns===
[[File:Kummel Korpo 2009.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Sea mark]] in Finnish coastal waters]]
Coastal cairns called [[sea mark]]s are also common in the northern latitudes, especially in the island-strewn waters of [[Scandinavia]] and eastern Canada. They are placed along shores and on islands and islets. Usually painted white for improved offshore visibility, they serve as [[Navigational aid|navigation aid]]s. In Sweden, they are called {{lang|sv|kummel}}, in Finland {{lang|fi|kummeli}}, in Norway {{lang|no|varde}}, and are indicated in navigation charts and maintained as part of the nautical marking system.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |url=http://portal.fma.fi/portal/page/portal/589032C37AAC7314E040B40A0A016368 |title=Legend (INT Symbology) |format=PDF |location=[[Helsinki]] |publisher=Finnish Transport Agency and Finnish Transport Safety Agency (TraFi) |work=Merenkulku.fi |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120126004546/http://portal.fma.fi/portal/page/portal/589032C37AAC7314E040B40A0A016368 |archive-date=2012-01-26 }} Three-language key to reading Finnish navigation charts.</ref>

==Other types==
* [[Chambered cairn]]
* [[Clava cairn]]
* [[Clearance cairn]]
* [[Court cairn]]
* [[Pyramid]]
* [[Ring cairn]]
* [[Tumulus]]
* [[Unchambered long cairn]]

== Concerns ==
Concerns have been raised over the construction of needless cairns.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Olstad |first=Tyra A. |date=2019 |title=Cairns: An Invitation |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2618439017 |journal=Focus on Geography |volume=62 |issue=1 |doi=10.21690/foge/2019.62.6f |id={{ProQuest|2618439017}} |via=ProQuest}}</ref>

The [[Hawaiian 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Robyn |date=2015-07-07 |title=Stop the rock-stacking |url=https://www.hcn.org/articles/a-call-for-an-end-to-cairns-leave-the-stones-alone/ |access-date=2024-10-18 |website=High Country News |language=en-US}}</ref>

The [[National Park Service|US 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 the [[Leave No Trace]] rule, the [[National Park Service|Park Service]] has three rules:

* Do not tamper with cairns
* Do not build unauthorized cairns
* Do not add to existing cairns

This guideline is made with the intent of preventing needless cairns created by visitors and preventing the destruction of important trail-marking cairns.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rock Cairns (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/rockcairns.htm#:~:text=Do%20not%20build%20unauthorized%20cairns,actually%20cause%20them%20to%20collapse. |access-date=2024-10-18 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=23em}}
* [[Boundary marker]]
* [[Cairn terrier]]
* [[Crossroads (mythology)]]
* [[Dry stone]]
* {{annotated link|Herm (sculpture)}}
* {{annotated link|Hörgr}}
* [[Inuksuk]]
* [[Kerb (archaeology)]]
* {{annotated link|Leacht}}
* [[Rock balancing]]
* {{annotated link|Rujm}}
* {{annotated link|Seonangdang}}
* [[Stele]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{EB1911|wstitle=Cairn}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Cairns (rock stack landmarks)}}
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Cairn}}
{{Wiktionary|cairn}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150503181729/http://www.dswa.org.uk/userfiles/file/Leaflets/cairn-building.pdf Notes on Building a Cairn (PDF)], by Dave Goulder for the [http://www.dswa.org.uk/ DSWA], Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain. Practical notes to help those embarking on a cairn-building project.

{{Prehistoric technology}}

[[Category:Cairns (stone mounds)| ]]
[[Category:Archaeology of death]]
[[Category:Artificial hills]]
[[Category:Burial monuments and structures]]
[[Category:Death customs]]
[[Category:Hiking]]
[[Category:Landscape history]]
[[Category:Navigational aids]]
[[Category:Stone buildings]]
[[Category:Types of monuments and memorials]]
[[Category:Trail markers]]