 Today the cairn has been badly robbed and the main features are the five large gritstone slabs, the remains of the burial chamber.Surprisingly, evidence suggests that the bodies were not interred directly in the tomb, but were left outside, perhaps at the entrance to the cairn, for birds and wild animals to consume the flesh and then, probably after elaborate ceremonies, the bones were placed inside the chamber.Pikestones is the earliest man-made structure in the area and only one other chambered tomb has been found in Lancashire.