Cairn building can be a surprisingly meditative practice that brings you closer to your community and the earth. You can make a traditional rock pile or a creative stack to help you focus on balance, permanence and harmony.
Throughout history, cairns were used by different cultures for a wide range of purposes. They may have been used to mark out a route, to indicate food sources, or to warn people of danger. In North America, Native American peoples also used cairns as burial sites, a practice called inukshuk.
The word cairn is derived from a Gaelic phrase that means « heaps of stones ». They are typically built in the shape of a hill. They can range in size from tiny rock sculptures to huge man-made stone hills. Some are comparable to kistvaens or dolmens, but built out of stone instead of ephemeral Earthworks.
Cairns have many uses, especially for hikers. Cairns help hikers find their way back to the trailhead, after a hard day of hiking.
A well-placed Cairn can help save lives, and guide a hiker group that is lost or having trouble finding their trail. However, some people argue https://cairnspotter.com/what-is-a-business-model-and-how-to-create-one/ that cairns are not a natural part of the environment and are in violation of Leave No Trace principles.