Publication Account
Date 1996
Event ID 1016379
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016379
Built on low-lying ground near the sea, this excavated stalled cairn is entirely housed within a modern hangar-like building, so that it can be viewed both at ground-level and from an overhead walkway; it is a very fine monument, with an elongated chamber, 23m in length, divided by pairs of upright slabs into twelve compartments and encased within an oblong cairn. A decorative effect has been achieved on the outer face of the cairn by setting stones at an angle, best seen almost as a herring-bone pattern on the east face. At its northeast corners, the cairn is attached to contemporary field-walls which have been traced for about 20m and 13m respectively, underlining the association of the tomb with its surrounding agrarian landscape.
The chamber had been filled with stones when the tomb was closed (masonry closing the passage is still in position) and the contents were undisturbed: remains of twenty-five people were found, mostly lying on or tucked beneath the shelves along the east side of the chamber, including nine complete skeletons.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Orkney’, (1996).
