Monument record 491 - RUAIVAL, ST KILDA

NF09NE 8 0952 9816.

At NF 0952 9816, 3.0m from the edge of the cliff on Ruival are two piles of stones 6.5m apart. One measures 3.8m x 3.0m and is 0.4m high; the other has roughly the same plan dimensions, but is only 0.1m high. They are orientated with the longer axis NE-SW. There are faint and uncertain indications of at least two more, a little way on either side of the two. There is just the possibility that these are burial cairns similar to those at An Lag Bho'n Tuath (NF19NW 18), but without excavation, they are possibly only the remains of destroyed cleits.
A little way to the N of these, on the W edge of the Mullach Sgar, are 14 or more turf-covered stony mounds, much larger than any others on the island. As these are strung out in a single line up the edge of the cliff top, it would appear that they were the result of field clearance rather than of a sepulchral nature. They average 5.0m - 6.0m in diameter and are about 1.0m high. The area bears evidence of having been under cultivation.
Visited by OS (J L D) 8 August 1967.