Category: Chambered Cairns
As we saw last time, the closure of the Crantit chamber left little or nothing visible above ground. But people came back, suggesting the site was marked and memories or traditions of its role persisted. We know this because centuries after the ancient site was sealed it became a focus for at least three Bronze Age burials.
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In April 1998, the discovery of a prehistoric chambered tomb on the outskirts of Kirkwall caused great excitement in archaeological circles.
The Crantit chamber had lain undisturbed for millennia so hopes were high that it would contain the untouched remains of early Orcadians.
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Across the waters of the Harray loch, just over two miles north-east of the Ness of Brodgar complex, is one of the few known Orcadian examples of a Neolithic long horned cairn.
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Ahead of planned agricultural improvements, the prehistoric site at Howe was excavated from 1978 until 1982 – an operation that revealed a complex series of occupation episodes spanning the Neolithic to Iron Age.
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3d model of the Vinquoy chambered cairn, Eday, Orkney.New 3d models of chambered cairns now available to explore as part of the UHI Archaeology Institute’s Tombs of the Isles project.…
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Like the many Neolithic chambered cairns throughout Orkney, the Sandfiold cist was clearly meant to be, and was, re-used. Few Orcadian cairns have been found to contain human remains, strongly suggesting that they were not the final destination for all the Neolithic dead.
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The Quanterness passage grave is the third in a series of three found in a three-mile stretch of countryside between Kirkwall and Finstown.
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Just under three miles to the east of Cuween Hill, on the steep, upper slopes of Wideford Hill, is a second Neolithic passage grave.
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The Cuween cairn is built on an artificial terrace on the upper slopes of Cuween Hill's eastern side. Cuween is a Maeshowe-type cairn consisting of a “roughly rectangular” central chamber with four smaller cells branching off from each side.
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Evidence calls into question many assumptions surrounding chambered cairns and, indeed, Neolithic architecture. Not all structures were meant to be the steadfast edifices.
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Visitors to the Ness of Brodgar dig will probably have heard “surface over substance” used to describe the construction of some of the structures on site.
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The earliest account of Maeshowe is found within the pages of the Orkneyinga saga, which says Viking warriors sought shelter in the chamber in 1153.
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With its south-westerly facing entrance, Maeshowe’s best known attribute is its orientation towards the setting sun around midwinter.
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The solstice, an earlier building and standing stone and Norse runes.
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