South Howe

Also known as:
Rose Ness, Roseness and South Cairn
Nearest town:
Kirkwall (13km WNW)
OS reference:
ND5228698813
OS sheets:
6, 7
Latitude:
58° 52' 27.67 N
Longitude:
2° 49' 39.28 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of South Howe (Long Cairn) by wideford

no stones like these elsewhere on the site so could it be where the skeleton is “entombed”

Image credit: wideford
wideford
wideford Mar 24, 2021

Articles

South Howe

wideford
wideford Mar 24, 2021

On Rose Ness there is a structure similar to the Covenanters Memorial in Deerness, a tall beacon. This is the site of a horned cairn, ~46m long, that may be similar to the likes of the Vestrafiold cairn – a turf ridge ‘tail’ running to the SW not only has much stone but also several orthostats perpendicular to the length that might indicate a box construction similar to Vestrafiold’s. Probable horns appear to be at the NE end, with perhaps similar traces at the other end. The 1867 beacon sits at the head end on a circular stoney platform. This foot high platform is probably modified cairn material. During construction a well preserved adult skeleton was found in the ‘rubbish’ and then, apart from a few bones the workers kept, put back “entombed under the refuse” (this could have been from a later period of course).
This is a much reduced mound, so could the beacon platform be the remains of a round cairn inserted like at the Head of Work horned cairn over in St.Ola ??

Sites within 20km of South Howe

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