Base Stone Cairn

Base Stone Cairns –  This type of rock feature was ceremonial in nature and created to be a permanent part of a sacred burial ground.  It is thought that their purpose was to commemorate the life of an important person, or to celebrate the accomplishment of a person or the tribe.  The same way we do today in our sacred military cemetery at Arlington, Virginia.

Base Stone Cairns were built by first choosing a large, stand-alone boulder that was typically at least 3-5 feet tall and several feet wide.  Smaller stones were added on top of the boulder.  On some occasions, the stones were neatly stacked several feet high to form a mini wall on top of the boulder.  Some Base Stone Cairns had petroglyphs carved into the large base boulder.  Other Base Stone Cairns were purposely shaped into effigies of animals.