Cairn

Cairn, Steinmann, Steinmandl or Steinmanderl are stacked stones in the form of small hills or turrets as signposts. They are an archaic type of path marker, which is used worldwide to date. This marker is particularly rough and difficult terrain - facilitate orientation - like mountains, high mountains, steppes and deserts. Cairns are or were used in all populated areas of the earth. In different cultures associated with them more often religious customs. These marks are sometimes indistinguishable from similar-looking mounds and Cairns; in some languages ​​(eg English or French) are, however, also called cairn cairns.

In Bavaria and Tirol these signposts are dialect also called Stoamandl.

Stone men in the Alps and as survey marks

Although there are many paths are indicated by color markings and signs in the Alps by the Alpine clubs, there are numerous walkways, pathways and transitions that are only marked with a few cairns (eg in the Karwendel ).

Large stone men are often built for summit mark instead of a summit cross. Sometimes they are solidified with cement and carry a plaque commemorating fallen or casualties. In some places in the Alps can be found veritable stone men gatherings that do not serve the orientation, but rather land art form (eg at Schafreuter in the Karwendel, on Beiljoch in the Stubai Alps, the Auenjoch in the Sarn Valley and the Luibisböden, an abandoned pasture in the central Pitztal ). At the latter places also called stone women were constructed that differ from men by built stone slabs, the arms are supposed to represent.

Also, some peaks located at survey points are indicated with stone men when a target accuracy of 10 cm is sufficient, and the location is hard to reach. You need at least one, better two meters high to be wide enough and even with poor contrast visible. To build such a stone pyramid of rubble as symmetrically as possible, requires several hours of work.

In the mountains of Western Asia and South America also numerous points are marked in the basic network of the first order with stone sign to save the effort in building surveying pillars. For the surveying needs in developing countries, the achievable accuracy in a rule sufficient.

Typical cairns

There is usually a Steinmann from approximately conical piled large stones with at least three layers, as this would be unlikely as a chance result of natural forces. Cylindrical structures also exist, but they are less stable.

Normally, a Steinmann is 0.50 to 1.5 meters high, at prominent locations and more. Today stone to help men especially recreational hikers to find the right way. In earlier times, when there were few roads and only carts in these areas, they identified paths from village to village or pass routes over mountain ridges. Especially in dense fog and clouds, when the surrounding terrain covered and was unfit for the orientation, or if there's snow, they were often vital - especially since some paths were the only safe transitions that you could not miss. Generations of locals have kept the stone men repaired.

Cairns in different cultures

Already in Ancient Greece were applied as a path marker cairns an additional cultural significance. From them the Hermen applied at crossroads cult images of Weggottes Hermes, whose name hermaion with the ancient Greek term for a cairn developed communicates.

Scandinavia

One Norwegian according to tradition, hikers should be paid to every stone man a stone to remain unmolested by trolls. Today, hikers are encouraged, at least in part, worn or damaged stone men ( not just those on the tops of mountains ) to help with one or more stones to preserve the signposts.

In Sweden, cairns are used under the name Reichsrösen ( riksrösen ) as a boundary marker.

In Iceland, the meaning is disputed. Some of them actually hold for talismans to protect against trolls ( probably better for protection from storms ), others claim they serve for orientation in fog, the most frequently prevails in Iceland. Originally, these stone towers were actually apart in sight, but they are mostly expire over the centuries. Precise investigations are continuing.

Inuit cultures

For the Inuit in the Arctic Inukshuk (stone figure in Inuktitut, the Inuit language family called Canadian ) have a variety of marking functions and refer to significant places. An Inuksuk with two separate legs from a bank displays a navigable channel, a Inuksuk on a lake refers to good fishing at the marked spot and so far in the lake, as the cairn is from the shore.

Noteworthy is the use of Inuksuk as a " helper " in the hunt for reindeer. The Inuit built rows of cairns with " hair " made ​​of reindeer lichens; startled by a few people, the animals were thus driven towards directly to the troop of the hunter, so that even small hunting communities could kill fast ungulates in the largely open terrain.

An Inuksuk was also the logo of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada.

North America

In various Indian cultures in the Southwestern United States and adjacent areas adjacent cairns of various sizes path marker were also created large stone formations in places that served the worship and prayer. For the Navajo, the tradition developed that each hiker some leaves creates such a heap of stones on the pile and weighted with a new stone.

South America

Cairns are known widely throughout South America and there under the name Apacheta. Mark and is used as places of worship. Originally there were altars in honor of the deity Pachamama.

Middle East

The Dominican friar Felix Fabri observed in 1483 on his pilgrimage to the Holy Land and to Mount Sinai:

" The Cairn on the summit but was a route signed, because everywhere in the desert are piled up on mountain tops rock piles with which one indicates valleys through which you must go; and if it were not for these characters, no one could pull through the desert, because most of the larger valleys are not continuous, but is close to the ends, and so you would be after being migrated following the Talverlauf three or four days, finally forced to turn back. So it is with a clip -rich sea; to him it is on high ground cairn on as a navigation mark; and if it were not for this, many ships, which take their course on the cliffs, running on sand banks or catch on whirlpool would. So many people would perish here, if these characters would not be standing on the mountains. "

Tibet

In Tibet, both in the ancient religion Bon and in buddhist influenced popular belief, cairns have received a religious significance in addition to its function as a signpost. Distinction must be made between the Lhathos and Lhadses:

• Lhathos ( lha tho, lha referred to so-called gods, to be understood here as a class of local deities ) are regular stone settings, the taper always on top. They are often decorated with prayer flags, woolen bands, animal horns or whole skulls of ibex. Painted with white lime paint, ask the faithful good spirits to take up residence in cairns. Red Lhathos to attract angry spirits that can scare evil influences.
• A Lhadse is usually irregular in shape, traditionally decorated with a twig tuft on the top and also with prayer flags. He serves as the residence of the local guardian spirit of a family, a monastery or village.

Both Lhathos as Lhadses are often associated with individual or collections of Mani stones.

There are also in the same region nor the Obo -called stone circles, which originate from the Lamaist tradition of Tibet and Mongolia.

Western cultures

In Western cultures, cairns are erected at prominent places with no religious background. They serve hikers as an expression of their attachment to the place of identification with traditions and as a symbolic appropriation of the environment. In heavily used by tourism and recreation areas large collections can be built of stone cairns. When this occurs in places where no prevail thick stone and gravel layers, these may result in conflicts with nature conservation arise because stones are removed from their natural position, where they were used for floor mounting. In wilderness areas, any change to the natural landscape is undesirable.