Midhowe Broch and Tomb distantly seen from Sands of Evie
Image credit: wideford
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A TEAM of international archaeologists hope to answer questions remaining about an Orkney island known as “the Egypt of the north”.
The experts have started the largest geophysics survey to date on Rousay, a hilly island off Orkney Mainland.....................
thenational.scot/news/16171515.Archaeologists_search_for_answers_in__Egypt_of_the_North_/
AN archaeological investigation of an eroding mound on the island of Rousay in Orkney dig is revealing extensive settlement.
But there is a battle against time to find the whole truth hidden under the ground at Swandro as the sea continues to eat away at the land.
The dig is being led by the University of a Bradford and Orkney College UHI, and the ancient settlement was discovered by Dr Julie Bond in 2010.
She had spotted a few odd stones only just visible among the pebbles. Since then, the excavation has been changing the understanding of this site.
The tops of stones partly buried by the boulder beach turned out to be set uprights forming part of a prehistoric building around the high tide mark.
Although the tops of the stones are worn and battered by the sea, the beach has partly protected the deposits. Animal bone and pottery were recovered, finds suggesting an Iron Age context.
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Thursaday 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.’‘
This season’s dig is showing that rather than a broch this is at heart a (Neolithic) chambered tomb – there is an item in this morning’s Radio Orkney program (online later). There’s only another week to go and the Open Day is this Sunday, July 22nd, from 11.30.
On Wyre about to start again (May 2nd) and will continue posting at facebook.com/pages/Braes-of-HaBreck-Wyre-a-Big-Dig-on-a-Small-Isle/196853287006365 .
Visited Orkney last week and spent a day on Rousay. Unfortunately Midhowe was closed due to Foot in Mouth, but we went to 3 of the other chambered cairns.
Walking from the ferry terminal, the first along the way is also the most impressive-Taversoe Tuick. Discovered about 100 y ago, in true Victorian fashion by the Lady of the house in whose grounds the tomb is located (she was shocked to think of the summer afternoons spent lying on the mound unaware of the skeletons a short distance below the surface). The tomb is unusual, having two layers, and seems to have been designed this way rather than having a second tier added at a later time. Access is through an artificial opening in the upper layer-the original creep is very low & narrow and blocked by a grille. There’s an exciting feeling inside – a metal ladder allows access to the lower chambers, all of which are well preserved. There’s a glass roof which leaves the chamber feeling bright and airy, not damp at all. Outside there’s a small chamber adjacent to the main tomb with a heavy wooden door covering it over – the boy had to creep inside and be closed in...
About a mile further along the road is Blackhammer cairn, situated about 50 yards from the roadside. This is a long stalled cairn, reminiscent of Unstan, but longer. It is preserved up to chest height, with concrete walls & ceiling. A heavy sliding door permits access in the midpart of the tomb – alas no symbolic crawling to enter.
The third cairn we visited was the Knowe of Yarso. This is a further mile away, but requires you to take a path (signposted) up a farm track and over some heather hillside for about 1/2 a mile from the roadside. We did this in a sudden blizzard of snow and hail, which made the cairn a real haven when we reached it. Again it is of stalled construction, with an outer and an inner chamber, reasonably large. Entry via a metal door – no creep. Again, it is preserved about 5 feet from the ground, with concrete above. A bit of a disappointment after the walk up – had little atmosphere I felt. The view from the top is spectacular however – looking over Eynhallow and the mainland.
Not too far away from the Long Stone, at HY380335 above Moan, is an earthfast stone 0.65m tall but 1.55m wide that is likely to be the stump of another standing stone. Lost/gone is the Westoval Stone, this was on a ridge called Steenie Festoval on the northern slope of Blotchnie Fiold (roughly HY4129) – if found, please return to owner.
Getting to Rousay
Orkney Ferries
Shore Street, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1LG
Telephone: 01856 872044
Fax: 01856 872921
Email: [email protected]
orkneyferries.co.uk/
