Creag nan Uamh [Overview]

A group of 4 [now 8 short caves in the cliff on the north side of Creag nan Uamh (the crag of the caves) at the top of a talus slope at the foot of the crag. There is a tourist trail following a 4 km loop from the car park by the road, 3 miles west of Ledmore Junction. The caves are 2 km away from the carpark up a scenic valley and are at the base of the exposed cliff perched at the top of large scree slope. More extensive caves (for experienced cavers only) are located further up the two main valleys off the top of the tourist trail (See Allt nan Uamh Stream Cave (ANUSC) and Rana Hole/Claonaite).

The Bone Caves are believed to be a detached part of the same cave system but are not currently connected to the larger caves. It is thought the Bone Caves once formed an entrance to the larger system but the far ends were blocked by glacial debris.

The most easterly cave [of the original 4] is very shallow, little more than rock shelter, the other three are true caves and have narrow tunnels leading off them. There are now eight main openings i n the cliff face. Although half are little more than rockshelters, the other entrances lead to some passage before sediments rise to the roof and halt progress.

The caves were brought to antiquarian attention by the geological explorations of Peach and Horne in the late 18th century an excavated by archaeologists Callander, Cree and Ritchie in the early twentieth century Tw human burials were found at the entrance to one cave and numerous animal bones .

Alternate Names: Bone Caves, Inchnadamph Bone Caves, Creag nan Uamh Bone Caves

Notes: Because of there archaeological and palaeo-environmental importance, the caves are protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, form part of the Ben More Assynt Site of Special Scientific Interest and are recorded as the Allt nan Uamh Geological Conservation Review site.

Digging without the permission of Historic Environment Scotland, NatureScot and the local land owner is prohibited.

Grammatically, Creag nan Uamh signifies 'Rock of the Cave' (i.e. singular) in Gaelic. Rock of the Caves (plural) would require Creag na h-Uamh.

See also Badger Cave, Reindeer Cave, Bone Cave, Foxes' Den, Eagle Cave, Eye Hole and Creag nan Uamh Bone Cave 5 & 6. Also - taking a slightly wider view - this group could include Otter Hole and Lower Otter Hole. Lengths are given in the individual caves entries.

Links and Resources:

Oldham, Tony, 2007, Caves of Scotland: A Bibliography.
Caves of Assynt (1989), p. 42.
Caves of Assynt (2022), pp. 104-107 (S, partial - covers the larger caves but omits the smaller caves)
Callendar, J.G., Cree, J.E., & Richie, J., 1927, Preliminary report on caves containing Palaeolithic relics, near Inchnadamph, Sutherland. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Vol. 61, pp. 169-172.
Cree, J.E., 1927, Palaeolithic Man in Scotland. Antiquity, Vol. 1, pp. 218-221.
Darling, F Fraser and J Morton Boyd 1969 The Highlands and Islands. 37, 75.
Delair, J B 1969 North of the Hippopotamus Belt: A Brief Review of Scottish Fossil Mammals. The Mammal Society Bulletin (31) 16-21, map.
Cave Research Group Transactions, 1959, Vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 139-190. Ford, Trevor, 1959, The Sutherland Caves.
Lambert, Robert, A, 1998 Species History in Scotland. Scottish Cultural Press, Edinburgh.
Lawson, T.J., 1981, The 1926-7 excavations of the Creag nan Uamh bone cave, near Inchnadamph, Sutherland. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Vol. 111, pp. 7-20.
Lawson, T.J., 1993, Creag nan Uamh.[in] Quaternary of Scotland, edited by J E Gordon and D G Sutherland. Joint Nature Conservation Committee / Chapman & Hall. pp. 127-133.
Murray, W H, 1968, The Companion Guide to the West Highlands of Scotland / The Seaboard to Cape Wrath. 334-335
Murray, NA; Bonsall, C; Sutherland, D G; Lawson, T J; and Kitchener, AC, 1993 Further Radiocarbon determinations on reindeer remains of Middle and Late Devensian Age from the Creag nan Uamh Caves, Assynt, NW Scotland. Quaternary N/L (70) June 1-10, location map.
GSG Bulletin, 2nd Series, Vol. 4, no.4 (1985), p. 13.
GSG Bulletin, 3rd Series, Vol. 4, no. 1 (1996), pp. 35-38. Young, Ivan R., 1996, The Caves of Creag nan Uamh, Part 1.
GSG Bulletin, 3rd Series, Vol. 4, no. 2 (1997), pp. 27-29, 32-36.Lawson, T.J. & Young, I., 1997, Bone Caves.
Peach, B.N., & Horne, J., 1892, On a bone cave in the Cambrian Limestone of Scotland, Sutherlandshire. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, p. 720.
Peach, B.N., & Horne, J., 1917, The bone caves in the valley of Allt nan Uamh near Inchnadamff, Assynt, Sutherland, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Vol. 37, pp. 327-349.
Simpson, W Douglas, 1968, The Ancient Stones of Scotland. p. 36.

This entry was last updated: 2024-11-25 08:27:48

Errors or omissions in this information? Submit corrections/additions/comments for this entry to the registrars.

NGR:	NC 26790 17040
WGS84:	58.10834, -4.94139
Length:	Not recorded
Vert. Range:	Not recorded
Altitude:	305 m
Geology:	Limestone
Tags:	Other, SSSI, SAM
Registry:	second

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