<< Our Photo Pages >> Taversoe Tuick - Chambered Cairn in Scotland in Orkney

Submitted by enkidu41 on Thursday, 06 May 2004  Page Views: 10908

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Taversoe Tuick
Country: Scotland County: Orkney Type: Chambered Cairn
Nearest Town: Kirkwall  Nearest Village: Brinian
Map Ref: HY42572761  Landranger Map Number: 5
Latitude: 59.131410N  Longitude: 3.005176W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 5

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drolaf visited on 9th Jun 2022 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 4 located on a knoll next to Trumland burn

bishop_pam visited on 24th Apr 2018 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4

SumDoood visited - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4

Jansold visited on 6th Jun 2013 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4

PAB rrmoser DrewParsons jeffrep TimPrevett Redfun have visited here

Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3.75 Ambience: 4.5 Access: 4

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by enkidu41 : HY 426276 On Rousay this is a two-storied stalled cairn, one of only two known. The round cairn is about 30' in diameter. The lower chamber, reached by a 19' passage, is about 12' long x 5' wide x 5' high, and is divided into 4 cells by upright slabs. The upper chamber, whose floor is the celing of the lower chamber, is reached by an 11' long passage, and is divided into 2 compartments. The cairn... (Vote or comment on this photo)
On Rousay this is a two-storied stalled cairn, one of only two known. The round cairn is about 30' in diameter. The lower chamber, reached by a 19' passage, is about 12' long x 5' wide x 5' high, and is divided into 4 cells by upright slabs. The upper chamber, whose floor is the ceiling of the lower chamber, is reached by an 11' long passage, and is divided into 2 compartments. The cairn is built on a hill so each passage is at ground level, one on the uphill side, the other on the downhill.

Additional information supplied by Drew Parsons September 2010:
The upper chamber contained the bones of at least 3 individuals, including one in a crouching position, set on stone shelves. There were also three heaps of cremated bones in the passage which had subsequently been blocked. The lower chamber also had the cremated bones of at least one adult and one child. The lower chamber also contained large amounts of pottery sherds and some flint and stone tools but no animal bones which typify some other Orkney burial cairns. The passage into this lower chamber had also been blocked off. The mini chamber set a few metres behind the main cairn had only three well preserved pottery vessels in it and no evidence of funerary remains so its use is uncertain, maybe ceremonial?

The site is just under a kilometre walk from the pier at Brinian.
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Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by DrewParsons : The back of the main cairn showing the entrance to the lower chamber now only accessible from the upper chamber. September 2010. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by howar : Looking down on miniature chamber's entrance (Vote or comment on this photo)

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by howar : RH cell of the upper chamber (Vote or comment on this photo)

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by DrewParsons : A view into the unusual separate small chamber set a few metres behind the main cairn. September 2010. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by DrewParsons : The upper chamber entrance with the access way to the lower chamber in the floor. September 2010. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by DrewParsons : The mound and the front entrance which leads into the upper chamber. The gate was not locked in September 2010.

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by jeffrep : Upper Chamber Entrance to Taversoe Tuick, Rousay, Orkney, Scotland

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by jeffrep : Inside the Small Detached Chamber Near Taversoe Tuick, Rousay, Orkney, Scotland

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by TimPrevett : On the lower tier, I crammed as far back onto one shelf between the stalls to get a shot across to the opposite stalls. Quite dark and cramped down here, so I had a small torch, and the photo has been lightened on the computer. It was on these shelves (and other similiar tombs) that the disarticulated, excarnated ancestral bone piles would have accumulated.

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by TimPrevett : The view from inside the lower separate chamber. You get very dirty and muddy in and out of these monuments - but the wind quickly dries and blasts off the mud! Crouching room only here.

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by TimPrevett : When visiting here, also go in front of the main mound as there is another 'cell' beneath a large door, which can be entered with some agility! Here can be seen the upper mound, the lower passage, and separate cell in the foreground.

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by enkidu41 : HY 426276 On Rousay this is a two-storied stalled cairn, one of only two known. The round cairn is about 30' in diameter. The lower chamber, reached by a 19' passage, is about 12' long x 5' wide x 5' high, and is divided into 4 cells by upright slabs. The upper chamber, whose floor is the celing of the lower chamber, is reached by an 11' long passage, and is divided into 2 compartments. The cairn... (2 comments)

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by TAlanJones : Inside the tomb.

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by TAlanJones : View to the east across the tomb.

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by TAlanJones : View to the north from the tomb on a particularly wet days cycle.

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by PAB : Lower chamber of the main cairn, showing one of the dividers between compartments. June 2016

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by PAB : Looking across the access 'stairway' to the lower chamber into one of the side compartments. June 2016

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by PAB : Inside the upper chamber of the main cairn. The metal bits are the ladder down to the lower chamber... June 2016

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by PAB : Looking south, a delightfully 'scruffy' view of the cairn! June 2016

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by PAB : Looking SSE over the main cairn towards the island of Wyre, with the ferry in sight. This photo shows the extent of erosion on this face of the cairn, presumably people find it an irresistible viewpoint! June 2016

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by MapmakerJenny2 : Taversoe Tuick

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by ShamrockStone

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by ShamrockStone

Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick submitted by howar : Cell of the miniature chamber

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"Taversoe Tuick" | Login/Create an Account | 8 News and Comments
  
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Re: Taversoe Tuick by AKFisher on Saturday, 13 April 2024
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Additional information links:
1. archaeologyorkney.com/tombs-of-the-isles/rousay/taversoe-tuick-rousay/
2. canmore.org.uk/site/2634/rousay-taversoe-tuick
3. www.orkneystonetools.org.uk/themes/sites/funerary/taversoe-tuick
4. www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/taversoe-tuick/
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Taversoe Tuick by ShamrockStone on Thursday, 12 April 2018
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Taversöe Tuick Chambered Cairn
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Re: Taversoe Tuick by howar on Tuesday, 06 September 2016
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Entering the enclosure the second thing I noticed after the cairn itself was a shallow trench all around the ege of the mound, and outside that a lot of stones of decent size. Canmore says "bounded by a wall-face of horizontally laid stones. Surrounding the cairn is a spread of loose flat stones forming a sort of platform. An alley, clear of stones, led through it up to the W edge of the cairn". Alley past tense. Before tackling the mound I investigated the other piece of the puzzle. This now has an angled metal door that swings out. This is where a fold-out screen comes in useful, sitting down on the horizontal stone and sticking the camera inside on wide angle. Then up to the main prize. I was very careful with the ladder in the cairn, starting face forward at the start, and the space between the rungs is over-large so that it would be all too easy for the whole leg to slip between them - I would have preferred to have someone with me just in case !
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Taversoe Tuick by DrewParsons on Saturday, 16 October 2010
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The upper chamber contained the bones of atleast 3 individuals, including one in a crouching position, set on stone shelves. There were also three heaps of cremated bones in the passage which had subsequently been blocked. The lower chamber also had the cremated bones of atleast one adult and one child. The lower chamber also contained large amounts of pottery sherds and some flint and stone tools but no animal bones which typify some other Orkney burial cairns. The passage into this lower chamber had also been blocked off. The mini chamber set a few metres behind the main cairn had only three well preserved pottery vessels in it and no evidence of funerary remains so its use is uncertain, maybe ceremonial? The site is just under a kilometre walk from the pier at Brinian.
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Re: Taversoe Tuick by jeffrep on Friday, 27 August 2010
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Condition: 4
Ambience: 4
Access: 4
Accuracy: 4
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Re: Taversoe Tuick by TimPrevett on Wednesday, 21 June 2006
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If this is only one of two two-tiered tombs known, what is the other one? Cheers, Tim.
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    Re: Taversoe Tuick by howar on Tuesday, 06 September 2016
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    Huntersquoy on Eday, Orkney
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    Re: Taversoe Tuick by KlyghoarpRhu on Thursday, 15 April 2021
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    Late to this party, but reading the 1935 excavation report (Callendar and Scott) on the Knowe of Yarso states that there is evidence for a second level at about three feet, three inches off the floor of the rearmost chamber ("3A"), and that this level was probably destroyed by stone robbers of later eras. So perhaps split level cairns were more common, they just didn't survive.

    I wonder what other cairns show signs of ledges suitable for a shelf and thereby a second floor?
    [ Reply to This ]

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