Orkney Smr Note

Event ID 620155

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Orkney Smr Note

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/620155

Excavation report of 1849 by Petrie. [R1]

There is a short discussion of the chamber contents and

Petrie's belief that the stone filling was deliberate. [R2]

Chambered mound, near Quanterness, lies on the Western

shoulder of the hill at an elevation of about 400ft above sea

level and about midway up the slope of the hill. Overall the

mound at present measures N-S 46ft, E-W 41ft, NW-SE 46ft, NE-SW

48ft; but its original outline has already been much changed by

excavations carried out, it is believed, by G Petrie. One chamber

is at present exposed and at present the floor level of this

chamber opens to three definite compartments or passages are still

clearly defined. A fourth passage to another apartment is

obscured by fallen stones and the debris that half fills the

chamber at that end. This chamber is roughly oblong with a

somewhat curved wall and lies with its main axes, measuring approx

10ft, lying almost due N and S and it is roughly 5ft wide at floor

level contracting as it is ascending to almost 2.5ft and it is

about 7ft high with no indication of the manner in which it was

roofed. At the N end of this chamber is a narrow passage 21in

wide and no more than 15in in depth and gives no admission to a

small beehive chamber which measures roughly 5.75ft long by 3.5ft

broad at the widest parts and rises to a height of 5ft 9in. This

is the only chamber in the mound to which access, with great

difficulty, is possible. [R3]

Text abstracted from previous authorities. [R4]

Wideford Hill Cairn is situated on the steep W slope of the

aformentioned hill. The cairn is almost circular, measuring 45ft

NE-SW and 41.5ft NW-SE. There is a wall-face encircling the whole

structure, and two more wall-faces, 4ft and 4.5ft apart, within

the cairn, which is made up of loosely laid flat slabs. The

burial chamber, with three large cells leading off it, is entered

by a passage about 17.5ft long. Animal bones and teeth were found

in the rubble. [R5]

Information from Orkney SMR [n.d.]