Cashtal yn Ard ''(Castle of the Heights'') is a

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several par ...

chambered tomb in Cornaa, in the parish of Maughold in the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

. It is situated on a low hill overlooking much of the surrounding parish of Maughold and across to the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or '' fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

in England. The

cairn A cairn is a man-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 gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehi ...

was excavated in the 1930s and again in 1999. It is one of the most significant

megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

ic tombs on both the Isle of Man and Britain.

Name

The name in the

Manx language Manx ( or , pronounced or ), also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Gaelic language of the insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family. Manx is the historical language of the Manx people ...

means ''Castle of the Heights'' referring to the site's relative elevation. An earlier name for the site was 'Cashtal y Mucklagh y Vagileragh''','' meaning the ''Castle of the Field Pigsty''. This may refer to how the tomb forecourt had been adapted for the raising of pigs. The tomb has also previously been named Ballachrink Cairn.

Description

The tomb has been dated to 2000 BC and is one of the best preserved Neolithic monuments on the Isle of Man. The site is large, with a west–east orientation and with an overall length of 39m. The tomb is located on a low hill that has extensive views of the surrounding landscape.{{Cite journal, last=Fleure, first=H. J., last2=Neely, first2=G. J., date=1936, title=Cashtal yn Ard, Isle of Man, url=http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/history/arch/aj16n4.htm, journal=The Antiquaries Journal, volume=XVI, pages=373–395 This may have symbolically represented the contrast between the activities of everyday life that likely took place on lower land, with the ritual activities that took place in the hills. It is likely that the tomb was originally constructed as a single burial chamber, but as successive significant members of the community died, the site was expanded to accommodate them. The tomb consists of a west facing open forecourt that leads to five stone chambers in the east. The forecourt measures 6.7m x 5.8m and has been restored. It is made up of large stones of which the largest is 2.3m in height. The east facing stone chambers are separated by lateral standing stone slabs. The highest of the stones forming the chambers is 1m, from which they then reduce in size towards the east. The average width of each chambers is 1.2m. The tomb was first described in the early 19th century when it was still mostly intact. The main body of the cairn was damaged by the middle of the 19th century when several of the stone slabs that made up the 1.2m high rectangular burial cairn were taken to be used for the building of nearby houses. This has exposed the five smaller chambers.

Excavations

Archaeologists H. J. Fleure and G. J. H. Neely excavated the site in the 1930s. Flints and shards of Neolithic pottery were discovered during investigations of the chambers, as well as at least 125 white sea pebbles which have been found at many Manx archaeological sites.Kermode, P. M. C (15 December 1927).
Knoc y Doonee
. ''Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society''. 3: 241–249. No bones were found during this excavation, however an earlier antiquarian investigation was described by Llewellynn Jewitt in 1885 who reported the discovery of bone fragments of a young person:

under side stones, were pieces of bones; on the north, portions of a skull, suture open ; upper jaw bone, with teeth regular and sound of a young person, and other fragments; also pieces of two different urns, one of crushed granite and black, about two-thirds of an inch thick, the other thicker, red, and of more earthy material. Near the east end was a cist without covering stone or west side stone, with portions of bone in the north, and on the south end fragments of a smaller urn of crushed granite, thickly spangled with mica.

Any other human remains may have been removed during earlier disturbances. Fleure and Neely highlighted the resemblance between Cashtal yn Ard and the cairns of Giants' Tombs in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian language, Italian, Corsican language, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese dialect, Algherese and Catalan languag ...

and Bridestones in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...

, England.

References

History of the Isle of Man Historic sites in the Isle of Man Tourist attractions in the Isle of Man Neolithic sites of Europe