This is a photograph of the main tomb of Clava. You can also see the circle of stones surrounding the tomb.
Click on image for full size
Photo courtesy Diego Meozzi/Stone Pages

The Cairns of Clava

You may have heard of the lake called Loch Ness, where people think they've seen the Loch Ness monster. Near Loch Ness there are three giant stone tombs you may not have heard of...they are called the Balnuaran of Clava.

Lots of stones surround the inside chamber where people were buried long ago. So, you can't see the burial chamber in the picture, just a big mound of stones. Balnuaran of Clava is similar to the Newgrange tomb of Ireland. Can you see how they are similar from looking at the pictures?

Each of these giant tombs is surrounded by a set of standing stones. You can see those in the picture too.

Last modified September 18, 2000 by Jennifer Bergman.

You might also be interested in:

Cool It! Game

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

What are Megaliths?

Have you ever seen a megalith? Maybe you have and you just didn't know it! A megalith is made of huge stones. They were put together by ancient people. Sometimes the stones look like a stone fort and sometimes...more

Native American Astronomy

People have been living in North America for a long, long time. The first people to live there were the Native Americans. They didn't have clocks or calendars so they watched tides, the Sun, the Moon,...more

Archeoastronomy

Man has always observed the sky. By watching the Sun and Moon, early man could tell what season was coming next. They had to know this to be able to farm and hunt. Archeoastronomy started in the 1960's...more

The Stones of Carnac

The stones of Carnac, France, are very famous because there are a lot of them and because they are so old! The oldest stones found in Carnac are from about 4,500 B.C. That's older than the stones at Stonehenge!...more

The Cairns of Clava

You may have heard of the lake called Loch Ness, where people think they've seen the Loch Ness monster. Near Loch Ness there are three giant stone tombs you may not have heard of...they are called the...more

Cuzco

Cuzco is a city in Peru. It was the capital of the ancient Inca Empire. In ancient times, Cuzco was the center of the Inca road network which was made up of about 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) of roads...more

The Stones of Fossa

The stone rings and tombs of England and France are very famous. But, there are also stone structures in Italy. There are some neat stones in Fossa, Italy. They are standing stones. These stones form circles...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA