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Publication Account
Date 1996
Event ID 1016369
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016369
You must enter this tomb as did neolithic man, uncomfortably on your hands and knees! But it is worth the effort of crawling along the 5.5m long passage, not just to see the burial chamber but also to appreciate the psychology behind the design of the tomb and the practical difficulties of any funerary rituals. This is a Maes Howe type of chamber, set within a circular cairn (the roof is modern); the main chamber has four side-cells, one of them double, and the quality of the masonry is very high. Both chamber and cells were cut into solid bedrock and, like Maes Howe, the entrances into the cells are somewhat higher than the chamber floor. When first explored in the 19th century, the skulls of twenty-four dogs were found on the floor of the chamber, perhaps as a token of tribal identity. There were also the remains of eight skeletons in the main chamber and cells.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Orkney’, (1996).
