cairns

Noun

cairn (plural cairns)

1. A rounded or conical heap of stones erected by early inhabitants of the British Isles, apparently as a sepulchral monument.
   • "Now here let us place the gray stone of her cairn: / Why speak ye no word!"—said Glenara the stern.1826, Thomas Campbell, “Glenara”, in The Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell, page 105

   Synonyms:

   See burial mound § Synonyms

2. A pile of stones heaped up as a landmark, to guide travelers on land or at sea, or to arrest attention, as in surveying, or in leaving traces of an exploring party, etc.
   • After fifteen minutes of this we were glad to reach a high saddle on which former travellers had piled little cairns of commemoration and thankfulness.1926, T. E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, New York: Anchor, published 1991, page 180
3. A cairn terrier.