Exterior view SW of Isbister Neolithic chambered cairn, Orkney, Scotland, UK, showing the oval cairn with entrance passage facing E out to sea on L.
Exterior view SW of Isbister Neolithic chambered cairn, Orkney, Scotland, UK, showing the oval cairn with its entrance passage facing E out to sea on the L. The outer wall-face of the cairn is visible (centre) with a wall/hornwork (R) which butted up against it. The wall is built on the old ground surface & runs NNE for at least 12m. The inner cairn was encased in a rubble mound. The tomb is a hybrid: a stalled cairn of 5 compartments with 3 side-cells, one on the E, 2 on the W. The W cells were used primarily for human skulls and the carcasses & talons of white-tailed sea eagles, possibly a clan totem. The tomb is popularly known as the Tomb of the Eagles. Burial deposits were made over a long period (800 years?) starting around 3,000BC, with bone remains from an estimated 340 people: the bodies were excarnated (exposed to the elements) & selected bones arranged in groups in the tomb. Offerings of fish & meat were made to the dead. Up to 40% of the 85 human skulls show traumatic injuries, some of which had healed but many were the apparent cause of death. The tomb was excavated by the farmer, the late Ronald Simison, & written up by archaeologist John Hedges. Orkney Islands Council undertook some reconstruction work & placed a concrete roof over the chamber to protect it.
Size: 4891px × 3621px
Location: Isbister Chambered Cairn, Liddle Farm, South Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland, UK
Photo credit: © Mick Sharp / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 3rd, ancient, archaeological, archaeology, bc, britain, british, cairn, chambered, cleat, drystone, eagles, east, entrance, excavated, face, faces, farm, grave, great, highlands, hornwork, hybrid, isbister, islands, isles, kingdom, liddel, liddle, long, megalithic, millennium, monument, mound, neolithic, north, northern, orkney, oval, passage, prehistoric, replaced, revetment, ronaldsay, roofed, scotland, scottish, sea, side, south, stalled, tomb, uk, united, wall, walling
