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Sanday, Thorsness
Mound (Prehistoric)(Possible)
Site Name Sanday, Thorsness
Classification Mound (Prehistoric)(Possible)
Canmore ID 3511
Site Number HY64SE 2
NGR HY 67229 43030
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/3511
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish Cross And Burness
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Orkney
- Former County Orkney
HY64SE 2 6723 4304
Fragments of a 'small clay urn or vessel' were found in a tumulus at Thorsness (HY 669 431) in 1825. They were donated to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS) by David Balfour of Balfour and Trenabie, but had probably come from the collection of Dr Wood.
Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1865 (Donations).
At HY 6723 4304, in a pasture field, is a turf-covered mound c1.0m in height and spread to c18.0m in diameter by ploughing, probably a barrow or cairn. This could be where the urn fragments were found.
Surveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (RL), 8 July 1970.
Sherds not found in Museum.
(Undated) information from Dr D Clarke (NMAS, Edinburgh).
Note (1980)
Thorsness, Sanday HY 6723 4304 HY64SE 2
Large grassy mound looking like a burial-mound may be the one in which Dr Wood found 'a small clay urn or vessel' in 1825.
RCAHMS 1980
(PSAS, v, 1862-4, 16; OR 380)
Field Visit (22 September 1993)
A field visit during the course of the Orkney Barrows project recorded a bowl-shaped mound, located on a relatively flat area of ground, with a diameter of 18.7m by 17.7m and a height of 0.75m.
Information from Orkney Barrows Project, 1993
Field Visit (1999)
Four mounds are located in a pasturefield; the closest lies within 10m of the coast edge. Previously, only the largest of these mounds (A) was noted. Records indicate that a ceramic urn was recovered from a mound in this area; there are now no indications of which, if any, of these mounds may have been the subject of this investigation. The urn has since been lost. The largest mound (A), is built on a natural ridge. It measures 18m in diameter and stands up to 1.75m high. It has been badly denuded by cattle poaching and upwards of 50% of the surface is bare. As the highest point, in an otherwise relatively flat field, it provides a vantage point for the cattle and is therefore vulnerable to continued erosion. Some 100m to the north of (A), lies mound (B). This measures 10m in diameter and 1m in height and has been rounded and reduced through cultivation. In the corner of the field, approximately 100m to the northeast of (B) is a third mound, (C). Measuring 8m in diameter and 1m in height, this mound has been partially denuded by cattle poaching. A possible fourth mound (D) lies 25m to the north side of (C). It is covered with grass and measures 8m in diameter nd 0.5m in height. A wall runs over its summit. Ref.: PSAS (1865) 'Donations to and purchases for the museum', PSAS, 5 (1863-4), 340-5, 16; RCAHMS (1980), #14.
