The new trend for prehistoric-style burials in Scotland
They are places where we can be laid to rest just as our prehistoric ancestors were thousands of years ago.
Nowacademicsarelookingat thegrowingtrendforprehistoric-styleburials,withtwositesin Scotlandsettobehometomodern versions of ancient barrow burialmoundswhereashescan be placed.
Plans are in development to build barrow mounds at Kinghorn in Fife and at Fingask Castlenearperth.atperth,itisproposedthechamberwillbelitby candlelight.
Archaeologist Dr Kenny Brophy and researcher Andrew Watson have received funding to research the allure of such burials in the modern day, with tenofthesesitesinoperationor in the planning process across the UK.
Each has design elements taken from megalithic burial moundsfromtheneolithicand Bronze Age periods.
Dr Brophy, whose research project is called Death BC, said: “I am excited that the British Academy have agreed to fund this research and grateful for builders, owners and users of barrow columbaria for being willing to collaborate with us.
"The construction of prehistoric-stylemonumentsappears to be more fashionable now than it has been for millennia andiwanttomakesenseofwhy this might be.
“An archaeological perspective to the study of these barrowsisrelevantnotjustbecause of the prehistoric connections, but also because we are interested in how people interact with buildings and material culture in relation to death and burial in any time period”.
Researcher Andrew Watson said: “Death BC is the first project of its kind and builds on my doctoral research with Dr Brophy. This project will allow us to advance this research further, exploring the significance of these monuments, not only to people interring loved ones, butwidersociety.wealsohope to be able to explore contemporary perspectives on death, burial, mourning and remembrance through these monuments and the communities associated with them.”
Barrowsaremadefromearth or stone – with stone versions usually called cairns – which were constructed between 3800BC and 1400 BC.
Camster Cairns in Caithness areamongthebestexamplesof prehistoric burial sites in Scotland, along with Maeshowe in Orkney.
The first modern version of the prehistoric burial mound was at The Long Barrow at All Cannings, Wiltshire, in 2014, built by Tim Daw, and since then several barrows have followed.
At Fingask Castle near Perth, owner Andrew Threipland wantstocreatemorethan1,000 woodland burial plots, along with a semi-underground, candle-lit chamber where ashes can be deposited.
Mr Threipland told a newspaper last year: “Many of mankind’s greatest achievements, such as the pyramids of Egypt, have been structures to commemorate the dead.”
Meanwhile, planning permission has been granted for a columbarium, which will have 500 niches to accommodate urns and other deposits of ashes, at Kinghorn Loch in Fife. It will complement a nearby woodland cemetery, where 3,500 trees have been planted and where ashes and bodies in shrouds will be placed.