Happy Friday educational travelers!
I hope the first full week of the new year has treated everyone well, and that it wasn’t too hard to get back into the swing of things.
Over the winter break, my family and I traveled to one of our favorite places to visit, the United Kingdom. We journeyed to Scotland and England and saw so many incredible sites that I can’t wait to share with you. For today’s post, I’d like to give you a glimpse at one of those wonderful sites, the ancient burial tombs and standing stones of Clava Cairns.
Located in the heart of the Highlands near Inverness and the famed Culloden Battlefield, Clava Cairns is an extremely well-preserved Bronze Age cemetery. The three burial cairns and encompassing circles of standing stones date back 4,000 years. The three cairns each have a central chamber. The outer two however, are the only ones with entrance passages as the middle one is completely enclosed.
It was a gorgeous crisp day when we visited, making the historic site both magical and beautiful all at the same time. The afternoon sunshine broke through the trees casting shadows that danced as the wind whistled above.
One of the reasons we visited this historic site of Scotland, is that it served as the inspiration for the standing stones in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander novels. The whole purpose of the Scotland portion of our trip actually was to visit some of the sites made famous in the Starz series. More on that in a post next week.
Clava Carins is such an unique site that I believe students and teachers of all ages would love to visit it on their educational student tour. Shrouded in history, it gives students the chance to step back in time and ponder what life was like some 4,000 years ago. Who knows, maybe you’ll get swept back in time just like Claire Randall on Outlander.
Until next time,
Kate.