<< Our Photo Pages >> Knowe of Swandro - Chambered Cairn in Scotland in Orkney

Submitted by SolarMegalith on Tuesday, 03 July 2018  Page Views: 9612

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Knowe of Swandro
Country: Scotland County: Orkney Type: Chambered Cairn
 Nearest Village: Isle of Rousay
Map Ref: HY37532966
Latitude: 59.149105N  Longitude: 3.093806W
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
 2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 5 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.
 2 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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RBaker visited on 4th Jul 2018 - their rating: Amb: 4 Access: 3 Ongoing Dig Site with the Swandro Archaeology Trust - with lovely guided tour and friendly greeting with lots of information.

Redfun Andy B have visited here

Knowe of Swandro
Knowe of Swandro submitted by Andy B : Julie Bond from the University of Bradford points out the corbelled cell discovered on the morning of BBC Radio Orkney's visit Photo copyright BBC Radio Orkney (Vote or comment on this photo)
Chambered Cairn in Orkney under threat from erosion. Currently being excavated. Also the remains of a broch preserved as a stony mound, but see update in comments below.

Source: MacKie, E. 2002. Roundhouses, Brochs and Wheelhouses of Atlantic Scotland c. 700 BC – AD 500. Part I: The Orkney and Shetland Isles. Oxford: Archaeopress. (p. 233)

Note: Knowe of Swandro excavation underway, with Dig Diary and Videos - Open Days every Sunday
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Knowe of Swandro
Knowe of Swandro submitted by Andy B : The site faces a serious threat from erosion. Photo copyright BBC Radio Orkney (Vote or comment on this photo)

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Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
HY3729 : Rich Orkney soil by David Medcalf
by David Medcalf
©2023(licence)
HY3729 : Bay of Swandro on south west Rousay by s allison
by s allison
©2007(licence)
HY3729 : Looking down to Moa Ness by David Medcalf
by David Medcalf
©2023(licence)
HY3730 : Rousay; Ruinous kiln oven on farm at Westside by Colin Park
by Colin Park
©2013(licence)
HY3730 : Skaill Farm by Sandy Gerrard
by Sandy Gerrard
©2021(licence)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 233m WNW 300° Knowe of Rowiegar* Chambered Cairn (HY37332978)
 903m NNW 339° Midhowe Chambered Cairn* Chambered Cairn (HY37223051)
 995m NNW 340° Midhowe Broch* Broch or Nuraghe (HY372306)
 1.1km SE 127° Westness Chambererd Tomb* Chambered Tomb (HY38402898)
 1.2km NNW 335° North Howe Broch* Broch or Nuraghe (HY3705130722)
 2.3km SE 132° Viera Lodge Broch or Nuraghe (HY392281)
 2.5km N 357° Knowe of Dale* Misc. Earthwork (HY37423217)
 2.9km SSE 166° Aikerness Class I Pictish Symbol Stone (HY38182685)
 2.9km SSE 166° Gurness* Broch or Nuraghe (HY3818926842)
 2.9km SE 125° Knowe of Lairo* Chambered Cairn (HY39922796)
 3.0km ESE 123° Knowe of Ramsay* Chambered Cairn (HY40042800)
 3.0km SW 218° Knowe of Grugar* Broch or Nuraghe (HY35642730)
 3.0km SW 229° Burgar* Broch or Nuraghe (HY352277)
 3.1km SSW 200° Knowe of Stenso* Broch or Nuraghe (HY3639426747)
 3.3km SW 235° West Broch of Burgar* Chambered Cairn (HY34822782)
 3.4km SE 130° Knowe of Burrian (Frotoft)* Broch or Nuraghe (HY40062745)
 3.4km ESE 119° Knowe of Yarso* Chambered Cairn (HY40482795)
 3.4km NE 37° Knowe of Lingro Cairn (HY3964832378)
 3.5km SW 219° Grugar* Carving (HY353270)
 3.6km SE 126° Langstane (Orkney)* Standing Stone (Menhir) (HY404275)
 3.9km WSW 255° Peterkirk* Broch or Nuraghe (HY337287)
 4.2km NNE 30° Bretta Ness* Ancient Village or Settlement (HY39723324)
 4.2km NNE 27° Wasbister* Crannog (HY395334)
 4.4km ESE 117° Blackhammer* Chambered Tomb (HY41422761)
 4.6km S 175° Quoys Chambered Cairn Chambered Cairn (HY37822507)
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"Knowe of Swandro" | Login/Create an Account | 14 News and Comments
  
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Knowe of Swandro excavation underway, with Dig Diary and Videos - Open Days every Sun by Andy B on Tuesday, 03 July 2018
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Follow the Swandro Dig Diary here
https://www.swandro.co.uk/dig-diary

The 2018 dig will run from Tuesday 26th June until Friday 3rd August and visitors are very welcome from Sunday to Thursdays between 9am and 5pm. We're not usually on site on Fridays and Saturdays, so please don't visit then.

Don't leave your visit too late as the last few days will be backfilling the site, so if you come right at the end of the dig you'll likely not see anything (except more tired and sweaty diggers of course). See below for details of special 'Swandro Sunday' and Viking Camp events extra to our regular opening hours - we are always happy to give you a free site tour, whenever you visit. Donations are of course always welcome!

2018 'Swandro Sundays'
To make it easy for people to visit Rousay and the dig as foot passengers on the ferry we are holding a series of 'Swandro Sundays' on the 1st July, 8th July, 15th July, 22nd July and 29th July, when there will be FREE transport from the pier to the dig. A minibus will meet the 10.45 am and 11.55 am departures from Tingwall, and will provide a drop off/pick up service from the road above Westness Farm, where by kind permission of the landowner (on our special Sundays only) you may walk along the farm track to the site, which is about 1km/0.65 miles, with a moderate slope. You may also be dropped off/picked up from the car park above Midhowe tomb: in either case the minibus will take you back to the pier n time to catch either the 3.20 pm and 5.30 pm departures from Rousay.


We will have Living History demonstrations on site too, as well as free site tours running all day. You can combine a visit to the excavation with a walk along the shore to Midhowe tomb and broch, which takes you past the remains of the chambered tomb at the Knowe of Rowiegar, Skaill Farm, St Mary's Kirk and the Norse fortified tower at the Wirk. If you are visiting us on the 22nd July you will be able to visit the dig at Skaill Farm during their open weekend as an added bonus.

Swandro Saturday Special 14th July
On Saturday the 14th of July from 11am to 5pm we are holding an event at the Rousay community school, with a Viking camp and cookout in the community garden - come along and sample a Viking lamb stew with bere bannocks, and 'Meet the Specialists' in the school hall. Free entrance, raffle, all are welcome. A minibus will meet the 10.45 am and 11.55 am departures from Tingwall, and will provide a pick up to connect to the 3.20pm and 5.30pm departures from Rousay back to the Mainland.

Visitors are welcome from Sundays to Thursdays 9.00am to 5pm

More at
https://www.swandro.co.uk/visit-the-dig and http://www.swandro.co.uk/dig-diary/dig-diary-1st-july-our-first-swandro-sunday
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Video: Neolithic stone ball carving explained by Andy B on Tuesday, 03 July 2018
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Neolithic stone ball carving explained by Chris Gee at Swandro-Orkney Coastal Archaeology Trust's first 'Swandro Sunday' special event

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGILPg9_cog&feature=youtu.be




More videos here http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM6dcfjY-83OBN0RqQxb5OA/videos
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Knowe of Swandro Dig Diary by Andy B on Friday, 16 March 2018
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http://www.swandro.co.uk/index-of-dig-diary/4594162197

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2017 Excavations at Swandro Beach, Rousay, Orkney by Andy B on Sunday, 25 February 2018
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2017 Excavations at Swandro Beach, Rousay, Orkney

The 2017 excavations at Swandro, on the Westness coastline of Rousay, proved to be extremelysuccessful. The endangered multi-period site, much of which is under the storm beach, is being pounded by the winter storms and every tide is like a vacuum sucking out the finer midden and ash based deposits. This year's excavation has provided a valuable insight into both the Iron Age settlement mound and the Neolithic Passage Grave and has reinforced the importance of this fragile site.

Two Iron Age buildings formed the focus of study this year, Structure 2, a building dating to the first half of the first millennium AD has a number of floors. The removal of a flagged floor this year by Bobby Friel (of Rousay) provided a glimpse of earlier levels and some in situ metalworking evidence. Signs of an earlier stone built tank pre-dating the floor proved of interest, Steve Dockrill (co-director of the project with Julie Bond) commented “this was an unusually large tank, big enough to hold Wendy, one of our American excavators, and it is hoped that samples from the infill might give us some insight into its last use.”

http://www.nabohome.org/fieldschools/rousay.html
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Knowe of Swandro Roman coin found at the Neolithic Tomb by Runemage on Monday, 17 July 2017
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Swandro Dig diary http://www.swandro.co.uk/dig-diary/4593359727/Swandro-Dig-Diary-Thursday-13th-July-2017/11193043 "Photos of our [Roman] coin have been sent off to folk who know what they’re talking about so hopefully we’ll have an update for you soon."
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Vote for Knowe of Swandro in Dig It 2017 by Andy B on Saturday, 17 June 2017
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SWANDRO

The Knowe (mound) of Swandro has been slowly relinquishing its secrets as archaeologists battle the sea in a race against time. This beachside site has seen human activity over millennia, including Iron Age, Pictish and Norse settlements. The most surprising feature, however, has been the discovery of a Neolithic chambered cairn. This burial monument was created by early farming communities over 5,000 years ago and the concentric rings of architecture are still visible. The passage to the chambered cairn was recently discovered, and they’ve even found a Viking coin featuring a Northumbrian king, which highlights how long this site has been in existence – but how much longer do we have?

DON’T MISS
Walk in the footsteps of the Vikings and explore nearby Skaill, a beautiful 19th-century farm, where a Norse Steatite (a soft and easily carved stone) object was recently uncovered.

WHAT KIND OF DAY OUT SHOULD I EXPECT?
Adventurous – Bring your bathing suit (and nerves of steel) to enjoy a beach day with a touch of archaeology in this stunning outdoor location.

WHERE? Orkney

http://www.swandro.co.uk/home/4592686228

https://www.facebook.com/DigIt2017/photos/a.989156824553423.1073741853.318049228330856/989959671139805/?type=3&theater

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International excavation team tackle 4,000 years of Rousay archaeology under threat f by Andy B on Tuesday, 27 August 2013
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Sigurd Towrie writes: You would think that the thought of an archaeological site not surviving the winter would be enough to put off most excavators.

But work on such at-risk sites is the key element of an ongoing research project in Rousay.

We’ve all heard about coastal erosion and the threat it poses to our heritage sites. But it takes a visit to an eroding site to really drive home the seriousness of the situation.

Watching thousands of years of history being reduced to rubble and being powerless to do anything is a frustrating experience.

As such, you can’t help but admire the dedication and tenacity of the experts trying to make sense of decaying archaeology before it’s gone forever.

The four-week excavation drew to a close at the end of July. All the archaeologists can do now is pray that the fragile structures on the shore of the Bay of Swandro will survive until they return.

Back on the island again, along with an international team of archaeologists and students, were Steve Dockrill and Dr Julie Bond, from Bradford University. The focus of their attention was a badly eroding stretch of coastline at the Bay of Swandro.

Here, with the high tide lapping at their backs, the excavators were in a frustrating race against time — what they excavated this year could well be gone before they return in twelve months’ time — trying to make sense of, and record, 4,000 years of archaeology.

This year’s work was part of the Orkney Gateway to the Atlantic project which, since 2009, has been investigating sites in danger of being lost to the sea.

Read more at
http://www.orkneyjar.com/archaeology/2013/07/31/a-race-against-time-and-tide/
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Lecture August 1st 2013 by howar on Wednesday, 31 July 2013
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Thursday 8.00 in the St Magnus Centre on Palace Road, Kirkwall - results of this year's dig including tomb. Free talk ''Snatched from the Sea : Excavations at Swandro, the story so far.''
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    Re: Lecture August 1st 2013 by Andy B on Wednesday, 31 July 2013
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    Thanks, unfortunately our newsletter has just started running out so there's no time to get this one in. Please give us a brief rundown if you're going along.
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Swandro Dig photos by Andy B on Tuesday, 24 July 2012
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Archaeologists have been busy over the past few weeks excavating and documenting the site at Swandro in Rousay. The team has been uncovering what it initially thought was an iron age broch - but has turned out to be a neolithic chambered tomb, which is gradually being washed away by the sea.

Swandro Dig photos
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150811270467168.350984.31395967167&type=1
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    Re: Swandro Dig photos by Runemage on Tuesday, 24 July 2012
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    Fabulous, you can really see the form among all the other rock slabs on the shore, it's amazing to see the site as it's revealed. So many questions... Photo 1 shows an object in the centre - is it a carved rectangular bowl made from a different type of stone? It looks very yellow in that shot, is it also local stone, or brought from some distance away?
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Rousay History and Archaeology by Andy B on Tuesday, 24 July 2012
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Rousay is home to over 160 archaeological sites, dating back to thousands of years ago. And they are all completely FREE to visit! But with so many interesting historical and archaeological sites here, we've provided in-depth information about the most important sites for you to explore.

The most impressive of the archaeological sites can be found along the most important archaeological mile in Scotland, which covers thousands of years of history in just one mile-long rough coastal path, known as the Westness Heritage Walk. This amazing trail takes you on a journey through the first Stone Age settlers (from over 5,500 years ago), to the Pictish Iron Age, the Viking invaders, the time of the Earls, and the crofting clearances of the early 1800s.

The walk includes the fascinating Midhowe Cairn [see nearby sites list], the longest and largest cairn in the Orkney Islands. Built around 3,500 B.C., it is housed in a large building in order to protect it from the natural elements.

http://www.discoverrousay.co.uk/historyandarchaeology.shtml
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Against Time and Tide: Investigating The Iron Age of Orkney by Andy B on Tuesday, 24 July 2012
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Staff and Students from the University of Bradford, Orkney College (University of the Highlands and Islands), City University of New York, and the William Paterson University of New Jersey are fighting against time and tide to rescue as much archaeological information as possible from an eroding archaeological settlement mound at Swandro on the island of Rousay.

Information gained from the excavation is enhancing our perception of the Iron Age people living in Orkney. The Iron Age is a time of changing weather patterns and it is hoped that information from the settlement about the arable crops, domestic livestock, fishing and hunting strategies will allow us to examine adaptations to these changes and to chart cultural changes associated with the first contact with Viking settlers in the Medieval warm period of the 9th century AD.

The mound was formed by the continuous occupation of the site, over a number of generations, for probably more than a thousand years. Known locally as the Knowe of Swandro, the eroding settlement appears to be focused on a large Iron Age broch; these multi-floored tower like buildings dominated North Atlantic Britain in the time between 400 BC and 200AD. The broch at Swandro is being consumed by the erosive power of the sea. Once securely on land, the site illustrates the changes in sea level over the last two thousand years and the destructive power of the sea. It provides a timely reminder of the threats we currently face with the predicted changes in sea level due to global warming.

The site provides a substantial challenge to the archaeologist as nearly half the circuit of the broch tower is on the beach, much of which is down to the first courses of the building’s dry stone walls. Steve Dockrill and Julie Bond, who are directing the excavation, are hoping that the floor surfaces survive allowing sampling and dating to take place; this will add significantly to the emerging story of human settlement in these marginal zones of North Atlantic Britain.

The work at Swandro forms part of an international research initiative between British and American Universities as part of the Orkney Gateway to the Atlantic project. The aim of Orkney Gateway to the Atlantic project is to provide an insight in understanding how the inherited landscape of past inhabitants survived so successfully in such marginal areas for generation after generation, with many of these sites forming the focus for continued settlement over millennia. Due to the northerly position of Orkney, the islands have shorter growing seasons and a degree of marginality, which offers a remarkable opportunity to study the long-term effects of climate change and how people survived and adapted, from the first farmers over 5,000 years ago through to the clearances in the 19th century. Understanding this sustainability and how the people (and society) adapted to climatic and environmental change over time has value to us today as we are facing the effects of global warming. As well as adaptation and sustainability, this long time frame provides the potential to study cultural changes as a result of contact and trade.

The site at Swandro on Rousay is a mound with obvious stone inclusions forming a multi-period site spanning the Early Iron Age to the Viking Age. The site is being destroyed by coastal erosion and our effort is being concentrated on recording as much information as is possible from the beach at Swandro. The Ordnance Survey thought that ‘the size and shape of this turf-covered mound suggests it to be the NE half of a broch, and a trench cut across it (but now filled in) revealed enough surviving walling to support this classification’

(records on Canmore: RCAHMS 12th report and inventory, p220, no. 579, RCAHMS 1982, p22 no. 72). On its eastern flank is the Norse house site known as Westness (HY32 NE17, Kaland 1993).

Archaeological investigation in 2010 revealed that midden and structural features (walling, paving and ort

Read the rest of this post...
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Re: Knowe of Swandro by howar on Friday, 20 July 2012
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this season's dig is showing that rather than a broch this is a (Neolithic) chambered tomb - there is an item in this morning's Radio Orkney program and there is an Open Day on Sunday
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