“Brogar” no more and farewell to “Maes Howe”
Historic Scotland is to start referring to two of Orkney’s best known monuments by their rightful Orcadian names. The government agency is to stop using the name “Ring of Brogar” when referring to the...
View ArticleTourists declared “no threat” to Maeshowe
Increasing visitor numbers are not having a detrimental effect on one of Orkney’s top visitor attractions, according to the initial findings of a new survey. State-of-the-art technology was brought in...
View ArticleDeath, burial and metalworking at Westray’s Knowe o’ Skea
The summer of 2000 saw excavations begin on what were soon to become two of Orkney’s most enigmatic archaeological sites. While Minehowe in Tankerness attracted most of the attention, out in Westray,...
View ArticleLost Rowiegar bones recovered
A box of lost Stone Age human remains from Orkney has been discovered in an Aberdeen museum. The bones, from the 1937 excavation of the Howe o’ Rowiegar, a chambereed cairn in Rousay, were sent to...
View ArticleQuanterness dig reveals suspected chambered cairn
An exploratory excavation to study the remains of a suspected chambered cairn drew to a close this week. The badly-deteriorated structure, at Ramberry, Quanterness, St Ola, lies a few hundred yards...
View ArticleDamage limitation investigations begin at two of Orkney’s top archaeological...
Historic Scotland will begin investigative work aimed at preserving two of Orkney’s best-known archaeological sites next month. On July 11, a reflective film is to be fitted around the glass “roof” of...
View ArticleEagle deposits post-date tomb construction by 1,000 years
Almost 641 sea-eagle bones, the remains of at least eight birds, were found inside the Isbister cairn and earned the South Ronaldsay site its nickname – The Tomb of the Eagles. These magnificent birds,...
View ArticleAcoustic project returns to recreate the sounds of Orkney’s sites
An archaeologist studying the acoustic properties of Orkney’s Neolithic monuments has been back in the county to continue his research. Dr Aaron Watson, an Honorary Fellow at the University of Exeter,...
View ArticleRecent floods highlight theory on Maeshowe’s ditch
A theory that the ditch surrounding Maeshowe was designed to be filled with water has come to the fore, following last month’s floods in Orkney. Dr Colin Richards suggested, in the 1990s, that 5,000...
View ArticleSalt Knowe – Orkney’s Silbury Hill?
A combination of modern research and antiquarian “excavations” looks like confirming that a massive mound to the west of the Ring o’ Brodgar was not a chambered cairn. Salt Knowe lies at the end of a...
View ArticleSouth Walls mound is a chambered cairn
Archaeological excavations on a large mound in South Walls suggest that, contrary to a long-held assumption, it does not contain a broch. Instead, it is a Neolithic chambered cairn. A two-week...
View ArticlePlough uncovers suspected chambered tomb outside Kirkwall
What appears to be a Neolithic chambered tomb has been unearthed on the outskirts of Kirkwall. The underground structure was discovered by John Hourie, Heathfield, St Ola, while ploughing. He reported...
View ArticleEyebrows link Westray figurine with burial chamber
New pictures suggest that a remote Neolithic burial mound may contain carvings of human eyes and eyebrows like those recently discovered on the Orkney Venus — thought to be Scotland’s oldest human...
View ArticleNeolithic chambered tomb unearthed in South Ronaldsay car park
There’s no shortage of mounds in Orkney, but little did one couple expect that the one in their garden contained a Neolithic burial chamber, complete with 5,000-year-old human remains. The discovery,...
View ArticleArchaeologists battle the elements in rescue excavation
After a fortnight battling rain, hail and gale-force winds, a rescue excavation on a chambered tomb in South Ronaldsay is due to finish this week. A team of archaeologists from the Orkney Research...
View ArticleMultiple burials recovered from chambered cairn
The remains of at least eight people have been recovered from the newly discovered chambered tomb at Banks, South Ronaldsay. The last days of the rescue excavations have astonished archaeologists...
View ArticleNeolithic artwork discovered at South Ronaldsay tomb?
What could be examples of Neolithic artwork have been discovered on a number of stones in the vicinity of the Banks Chambered Tomb, in South Ronaldsay. The Stone Age burial chamber was discovered in...
View ArticleTomb of the Eagles remains paint a darker picture of Neolithic Orkney
An “astounding” number of Neolithic men, women and children buried in Orkney’s Tomb of the Eagles suffered violent attacks and died from their injuries, according to new research. Of the 85 skulls...
View ArticleOpening a window on life and death at the ‘Tomb of the Otters’
Excavation work at a Stone Age tomb in South Ronaldsay is continuing to give archaeologists a clearer view of life, and death, in Neolithic Orkney. A three-week dig at Banks concluded in April, and saw...
View ArticleSixth chamber in Banks chambered tomb?
The chambered tomb at Banks, in South Ronaldsay, continues to throw up yet more surprises, including the discovery of what appears to be a sixth chamber within the structure. Hamish Mowatt originally...
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