South Ronaldsay, The Nev

ND48NW 10 4284 8921

Some distance S of the cairn, which is situated above the croft of Somerset (ND48NW 5) is another cairn about 44ft in diameter and about 4ft high. A cist containing burnt bones and ashes is said to have been discovered in it about thirty years ago. On its top are two large slabs set upright and aligned E-W with a thinner slab set transversely suggesting a cist or chamber in the cairn but the structural features are not those of a cairn containing a slab built cist of the Bronze Age. Westwards, in the direction of and along the cliff-top, are a number of small earthy heather-covered mounds, 15ft to 21ft in diameter, probably natural or old peat mounds.

RCAHMS 1946, visited 1929 and 1935

ND 4284 8921. A chambered cairn about 11.0m in diameter and 1.0m maximum height. An amateur excavation in 1970 by Mr J Watson (Lynn, Deerness Road, Kirkwall), has revealed the greater part of a chamber aligned N-S, built of drystone walling (best preserved in the E to a height of 0.9m) and divided into three compartments by three pairs of upright slabs. There is no provision for a back slab. The excavation has not uncovered the S extremity of the chamber nor the entrance passage but an earthfast prostrate stone in the SSE may be a lintel of the passage.

No finds were made during the excavation.

Surveyed at 1/2500.

The area "westwards in the direction of and along the clifftop" has recently been ploughed and no mounds are now visible. According to M Rosie ("Somerset", Sandwick) nothing was noticed at the time of ploughing.

Visited by OS (ISS) 3 May 1973

Round chambered cairn of Orkney-Cromarty type, probably having a tripartite chamber.

J L Davidson and A S Henshall

Confirmed as a chambered cairn of probably tripartite type, and generally as described by OS (ISS). There appears never to have been a back-slab, but the drystone walling on the NE side of the innermost compartment appears to have continued to form a semi-circular rear wall. The passage appears to have been blocked by a secondary wall which incorporates the S pair of transverse slabs and several large displaced slabs, one particularly suggesting a displaced passage lintel.

Visited by OS (JLD) 15 May 1981

ND 428 892 Chambered cairn, denuded and disturbed, prehistoric.

Sponsors: Historic Scotland, Orkney Archaeological Trust.

G Wilson and H Moore 1997

'The Orcadian' in 1903 describes the discovery of burnt bones and ashes, with a short cist with urn (found a short time before), which were found within Knave Hill mound.

M Howe 2006.