Cairns: The story behind rock stacking

Rock stacking (Courtesy.)

If you are an ardent traveller and adventure lover and have done hiking, visited parks reserves, and other remote-like destinations, you will have noticed piles of stones, placed in strategic places. 

Most probably you have dismissed them as a human-made pile of stones raised for a purpose – a marker or a burial mound. 

Allan Thuranira, a seasoned travel guide, says the pile of stones is called a stack or cairn. This is a human-made pile of stones built to communicate a message such as a direction marker or a burial site. 

The word cairn is derived from Scottish culture, meaning “a pile of stones”. The pile of stones according to Scottish tradition, was used to mark to mark a trail. Cairns is also used to symbolise a place of peace, calm, and meditation centre. 

The rock stacks are sometimes used as a prayer altar set up in special places such as hills, mountains, valleys, forests, and other secluded places. 

“Stone cairns have carried a spiritual meaning across cultures for centuries, and the act of balancing stones carries with it a practice of patience, and a physical effort of creating balance, and each rock can signify an intention of grace for thankfulness,” says Thuranira, explaining a cairn of rocks marking the direction of Magura Falls and the Queen’s Cave at the Aberdare National Park. 

The guide explains that cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistoric times, they were raised as markers, memorials, and burial monuments (some of which contained chambers like those found at Gedi Ruins). 

For instance, says the guide, at the Gedi Ruins, the rock stacks were used as boundary markers, meant to keep people out, or at least they said, “Ask permission before entering.”

The other function of stacked stones was to serve as a memorial and a reminder such as in the Bible story of Joshua leading the twelve tribes of Israel into the Promised Land. 

In the modern era, says the guide, cairns are often raised as landmarks, especially to mark the summits of mountains, and as trail markers.

“They vary in size from small stone markers to entire artificial hills, and in complexity from loose conical rock piles to elaborate megalithic structures, he says, adding: Cairns may be painted or otherwise decorated, whether for increased visibility or for religious reasons. 

Environment experts say that in some instances, stacking rocks is illegal. This is because creating rock cairns can be dangerous. Thuranira says it has been documented that large cairns, commonly found on mountain peaks and summits, have been known to fall over hillsides and hit hikers below. 

“The dangers of these cairns have made them illegal to make unless done professionally by a park ranger, and for making these cairns are equivalent to those for vandalism,” says the guide. 

Why do people stack rocks near water?

At the Aberdare and Tsavo East National Parks, Thuranira explains, there are stacks of rocks. In this instance and others, the rock stacks have been “pilled” to guide people with path marks. 

On the flip side, he explains, that by moving or stacking rocks, we may inadvertently destroy or disrupt their wildlife habitats, harm wildlife populations, and destroy ecosystems. 

 Similarly, rock stacking can also have adverse terrestrial impacts on insects and moss in wilderness areas.

Building rock stacks can contribute to erosion and destabilisation of the shoreline or wilderness area.