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Bookan

Barrow (Prehistoric)

Site Name Bookan

Classification Barrow (Prehistoric)

Alternative Name(s) Buckan; Wasbister; The Brecks

Canmore ID 1718

Site Number HY21SE 3

NGR HY 2889 1371

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/1718

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Orkney Islands
  • Parish Sandwick
  • Former Region Orkney Islands Area
  • Former District Orkney
  • Former County Orkney

Archaeology Notes

HY21SE 3 2889 1371

See also HY21SE 18.

Disc barrow. On the low ground not far from the east shore of the Loch of Stenness and about midway between the Ring of Brodgar and the Ring of Bookan is a mound with a diameter of about 50ft and a height of about

3ft which has the appearance of a disc-barrow.

It is surrounded by wide trench and a well-marked rampart of the same height as the mound. The breadth of the rampart from the bottom of the ditch to the general ground-level outside is about 24 ft on the north of the mound, and about 20ft on the south. The distance between the outer edges of the rampart across the mound is approx. 99 ft.

F W L Thomas 1852; RCAHMS 1946

HY 2889 1371. This probable disc barrow is generally as described and planned by the above authorities although the dimensions are now slightly reduced, the central mound being c.15.0m in diameter and 0.8m high, and the outer bank c.6.0m. wide, with a flat top 2.0m wide, and 0.6m high.

A cart-track has cut through then feature on the SW: only a few small stones are visible on the surface of the feature.

Resurveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (RB) 25 April 1966.

As this supposed disc-barrow has no berm, I would reject it from the disc-barrow category.

Information from L V Grinsell 15 September 1973.

Activities

Field Visit (25 April 1966)

HY 2889 1371. This probable disc barrow is generally as described and planned by the above authorities although the dimensions are now slightly reduced, the central mound being c.15.0m in diameter and 0.8m high, and the outer bank c.6.0m. wide, with a flat top 2.0m wide, and 0.6m high.

A cart-track has cut through then feature on the SW: only a few small stones are visible on the surface of the feature.

Resurveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (RB) 25 April 1966.

Field Visit (1 May 1994)

This disc barrow was visited as part of the Orkney Barrows Project. It measures 15.0m in diameter and 0.8m in height. The ditch and bank were visible at the time of visit. A low-lying monument, it can be seen in profile from the E for 500.

Information from the Orkney Barrows Project (JD), 1994

References

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