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Sanday, Sandquoy
Midden (Prehistoric)(Possible), Souterrain (Prehistoric)(Possible)
Site Name Sanday, Sandquoy
Classification Midden (Prehistoric)(Possible), Souterrain (Prehistoric)(Possible)
Canmore ID 3579
Site Number HY74NW 3
NGR HY 7467 4532
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/3579
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish Lady
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Orkney
- Former County Orkney
HY74NW 3 7467 4532.
(Area: HY 747 452) An earth-house was discovered many years before 1928 on the gentle slope between the farms of Sandquoy (HY 7472 4532) and How (HY 7485 4530) at an elevation of 50' OD. On the instructions of the proprietor it was completely torn out, and its stones were tipped onto the beach.
According to a local informant, who assisted at the work of demolition, it consisted of three compartments, the roofs of which were, in places, supported on stones set upright. Three human skulls and a great quantity of limpet-shells and bone refuse were observed in the interior.
A kitchen-midden deposit is exposed in the sea-bank immediately opposite.
RCAHMS 1946, visited 1928.
Traces of kitchen-middens of shells and animal bones at HY 7467 4532, otherwise no further information.
Visited by OS (NKB) 11 July 1970.
Orkney Smr Note (July 1970)
Items donated to Kirkwall Museum on separate occasions in
the 1920s were 'a polishing stone from kitchen midden at
Sandquoy' and a 'boar's tusk from kitchen midden at Sandquoy',
the latter donated by H Marwick. [R1]
Traces of kitchen-middens of shell and animal bones.
OS visit Jul 70.
Field Visit (June 1979)
House of Sandquoy is on a modest 'tell'. In shore exposure
are midden deposits as described, and traces of dry-stone walling
exposed in the high bank between the exposure and the road.
Information from Orkney SMR (RGL) Jun 79.
Note (1980)
Sandquoy, Sanday HY 7467 4532 HY74NW 3
House on modest tell, midden deposits and structural traces visible in shore section.
RCAHMS 1980
(OR 293)
Note (1980)
'between Sandquoy and How', Sanday HY 747 462 HY74NW 3
RCAHMS reports earth-house discovered long before 1928 on gentle slope between Sandquoy and How at '50 ft above sea-level', and entirely removed. Location is uncertain as no point between Sandquoy and How is anywhere near 50 ft.
RCAHMS 1980
(RCAHMS 1946, ii, p. 167, No. 440; OR 294)
Field Visit (1999)
Previous records describe how a structure was discovered here and demolished sometime prior to 1928. According to a local informant at that time, the structure comprised three compartments in which three human skulls and shell and bone midden were found. On the basis of this, the site has been classed as a possible souterrain or house, although it would be unusual to find human remains in such a context. It is possible, therefore, that the structure was in reality a burial monument such as a small chambered cairn or a complex triple cist arrangement. Now the only remains of any archaeological potential visible in the area comprise concentrations of stones, which are visible in the coastal erosion face. No trace was seen of the midden deposits recorded previously. Ref.: RCAHMS (1946), #440; RCAHMS (1980), #87.
Moore & Wilson 1999.
Coastal Zone Assessment Survey, 1999
Orkney Smr Note
Location difficult as no point between Sandquoy and How is
anywhere near 50ft, How itself being only about 12m above OD.
Information from Orkney SMR (RGL) [n.d.]
