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A cairn to mark the way along a glacier
A cairn is a pile of stones.
Typically, a cairn is used as a monument, to mark a path or to designate the summit of a hill. Typically, a traveller crossing the moors of Great Britain would pick up stones along the way and add them to the next cairn he passed. Cairns were especially useful in finding the proper path in foggy climates.
These present-day traditions emerged from the Bronze Age habit of putting cists into cairns, which would be situated in conspicuous positions, often on the skyline above the village of the deceased.
Cairns are extensively used in alpine regions, to mark the way across an area with many stones or across a glacier. Cairns vary from large piles of stones to elaborate products of engineering. In some places, games are regularly being held to find out who can build the most beautiful cairn.