Monument record 500 - AN LAG BHO'N TUATH, ST KILDA

NF19NW 18 1028 9956.

Centred NF 1028 9956. In the hollow An Lag Bho'n Tuath, and mainly situated on the moraine that fronts it, are a number of curious mounds, which on examination could well be burial cairns. Of the 17 noted, at least three exhibit a 'boat-shaped' setting of slabs with their long axis orientated NNE-SSW - facing the Bay. These structures measure some 3 x 1.0m (at the widest point) although one seems to extend to c.5.5m The pointed end is at the S. The stony mounds in which these structures are contained, are sometimes pear-shaped measuring c.4.5 x 3.0m and 0.2-0.3m high. Others are elongated, and some almost circular (c.4.0m in diameter).
One interesting specimen - NF 1030 9964 - c.6.8m in diameter and 0.3m high, is situated on an excavated platform bounded by a course of stones, possibly the remnants of a bank. A slightly hollowed berm 2.5m wide separates the cairn from the platform edge on the SE. Only a few stones mark the course of the perimeter on the NW, or uphill side.
What may be the site of another similar feature lies c.50.0m to the SW; but only a slight platform, and very little stone, remains. The mound, and ?grave at 1032 9959 is also on a slight platform.
A cairn at 1025 9961, 4.0m in diameter contains what may be a cist - a setting of slabs on end measuring 1.4 x 0.8m wide at one end and 0.2m at the other.
It should perhaps be considered, without excavation, that some of these 'cairns' may well be the remains of old cleits, long since replaced by others; but the 'boat -shaped' structures could well be Viking graves, and the discovery of Viking grave goods on the island could well substantiate this.
Visited by OS (J L D) 11 August 1967.

M Buchanan, 1983, St Kilda: a photographic album, 11-12 (Bibliographic reference). SWE2699.