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.
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 & R) with a wall which butted up against it. The wall (hornwork) 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. This photograph was taken after excavation with the stalled chamber & E cell exposed. Orkney Islands Council later undertook some reconstruction work & placed a concrete roof over the chamber to protect it.
Size: 3780px × 2645px
Location: Isbister Chambered Cairn, Liddle Farm, South Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland, UK
Photo credit: © Mick Sharp / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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