Register here - as a registered user you get more features and fewer ads.
Over the 4500 - 5000 years since it was built, this cairn had become badly damaged and so a concrete cover was installed above it to protect what remained. This description might put some folk off, but what is left under the concrete roof and walls is well worth a visit. The site is located just above the coastal road around the island of Rousay and easily accessed along a short path signposted from the road. It has grand views across the sound to Mainland and Wyre. Excavated in 1936 this stalled cairn gave up the remains of two burials, one in the entrance and one at the western end of the chamber. Finds included neolithic pot sherds, flint tools, and animal and bird bones with many showing evidence of burning. The original 3 metre passage entrance to the chamber has been replaced by a sliding door with steps down into the once corbel roofed chamber. Outside, a small glass covered inspection window allows you to see something of the original wall construction of layers of stone in hatched triangle form and reminiscent of the designs seen on Unstan Ware - the local pottery of that era. The chamber is 7.3 metres long and has 7 stalls or compartments where once burial remains would have been laid to rest. It was sealed up upon finally being abandoned.
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road