Orkney Cromarty Type Chambered Cairn

 Blackhammer Chambered Cairn Holm of Papa Westray Chambered Cairn North Huntersquoy Chambered Cairn Knowe of Ramsay, Rousay Knowe of Rowiegar, Rousay Knowe of Yarso Chambered Cairn Lum Head Chambered Cairn Midhowe Chambered Cairn Unstan Chambered Cairn

Orkney Cromarty Type Chambered Cairn is in Orkney Chambered Cairns.

Orkney-Cromarty Type describes tombs with a linear layout of rectangular chamber subdivided into stalled compartments by orthostat pairs. The number of compartments varies from as few as three — e.g. Bigland Round to the 26 encountered at the Knowe of Ramsay.

Europe, British Isles, Scotland, Orkney Islands, Orkney Northern Islands, Rousay, Blackhammer Chambered Cairn [Map]

3000BC. Blackhammer Chambered Cairn [Map] is a Neolithic chambered cairn located on the island of Rousay, in Orkney, Scotland. The tomb, constructed around 3000 BC, is a Orkney–Cromarty chambered cairn, characterized by stalled burial compartments. The oblong tomb measures 22.5 m (74 ft) by 8.9 m (29 ft) externally. The cairn encloses a long burial chamber measuring 13.5 m (44 ft) by 2.0 m (6 ft 7 in), and 2.0 m (6 ft 7 in) in height.

Europe, British Isles, Scotland, Orkney Islands, Orkney Northern Islands, Eday, Huntersquoy Chambered Cairn [Map]

Huntersquoy Chambered Cairn [Map] is an Orkney–Cromarty type chambered cairn.

Europe, British Isles, Scotland, Orkney Islands, Orkney Northern Islands, Rousay, Knowe of Ramsay [Map]

Knowe of Ramsay, Rousay [Map]. An Orkney-Cromarty stalled cairn, near the edge of one of the natural terraces above the shore overlooking the "Knowe of Lairo" (HY32NE 6). It is now a low grass-grown mound with a hollow down the centre from which some flagstones protrude . It had much the same appearance before excavation in 1935, when it was found that it had already been severely robbed and disturbed. The cairn, with its major axis NW-SE, is 103' long; the SE end, which contains the entrance passage, is square, 15' in width. The sides diverge to give a maximum width of 24' and then converge into the rounded NW end. It is edged by a wall face of horizontally laid stones, greatly dilapidated but surviving to a height of 4'2" on the SW side; there is no second wall-face. Against the W side of the NW end is a rough block of masonry, possibly part of an unfinished outer casing to the cairn, and at the SE end on the E side a wall 7'9" long abuts the cairn at right angles. The passage is 6'5" long and 1' 8" wide, with a maximum height of 2'4". The chamber, 88' long and from 3'11" to 6'8" wide, is divided into 14 compartments by pairs of transverse slabs, 2'6" - 4'9" high. The end of the chamber is formed by a large stone on edge. A small stone cist was found near the SW corner of the fifth compartment from the entrance. Finds from the site included: about 6 small sherds of reddish ware, a scraper and 5 pieces of flint, human bones very broken and decayed and numerous animal bones.

Carbon Date. 2340BC. Early Bronze Age Carbon Dates

Report: Bone, id as ?bovine ribs, from Knowe of Ramsay [Map], Rousay, Orkney, Scotland.

ID: 4436, C14 ID: Q-1223 Date BP: 4340 +/- 65, Start Date BP: 4275, End BP: 4405

OS Letter: HY, OS East: 400, OS North: 280

Archaeologist Name: Callander and Grant 1936

Reference Name: Antiquity, 50, 1976, 194-203; C Renfrew (ed), 'The prehistory of Orkney' (1985)

Council for British Archaeology (2012) Archaeological Site Index to Radiocarbon Dates from Great Britain and Ireland [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1017767

Carbon Date. 2300BC. Early Bronze Age Carbon Dates

Report: Bone, id as red deer humerus, metacarpals and radius, from Knowe of Ramsay [Map], Rousay, Orkney, Scotland.

ID: 4437, C14 ID: Q-1224 Date BP: 4300 +/- 60, Start Date BP: 4240, End BP: 4360

OS Letter: HY, OS East: 400, OS North: 280

Archaeologist Name: Callander and Grant 1936

Reference Name: Antiquity, 50, 1976, 194-203; C Renfrew (ed), 'The prehistory of Orkney' (1985)

Council for British Archaeology (2012) Archaeological Site Index to Radiocarbon Dates from Great Britain and Ireland [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1017767

Carbon Date. 2010BC. Early Bronze Age Carbon Dates

Report: Bone, id as Bos metacarpals, tibiae and ulna, from Knowe of Ramsay [Map], Rousay, Orkney, Scotland.

ID: 4438, C14 ID: Q-1222 Date BP: 4010 +/- 60, Start Date BP: 3950, End BP: 4070

OS Letter: HY, OS East: 400, OS North: 280

Archaeologist Name: Callander and Grant 1936

Reference Name: Antiquity, 50, 1976, 194-203; C Renfrew (ed), 'The prehistory of Orkney' (1985)

Council for British Archaeology (2012) Archaeological Site Index to Radiocarbon Dates from Great Britain and Ireland [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1017767

Europe, British Isles, Scotland, Orkney Islands, Orkney Northern Islands, Rousay, Knowe of Rowiegar [Map]

Knowe of Rowiegar, Rousay [Map]Knowe of Rowiegar, an Orkney-Cromarty type stalled cairn, now a grass-covered mound with a few slabs projecting near the centre.

The mound was excavated by W G Grant in 1937, who found that the SE end had been so badly damaged that it obscured all trace of the entrance, and that an earth-house had been constructed in the easternmost half of the cairn. Other Iron Age building, datable by pottery (J Phemister 1942) and other relics, lay on and around the cairn.

Carbon Date. 2305BC. Early Bronze Age Carbon Dates

Report: Bone, id as Bos tibia and radius, from Knowe of Rowiegar [Map], Rousay, Orkney, Scotland.

ID: 4439, C14 ID: Q-1221 Date BP: 4305 +/- 60, Start Date BP: 4245, End BP: 4365

OS Letter: HY, OS East: 373, OS North: 298

Archaeologist Name: W G Grant c 1940s

Reference Name: Antiquity, 50, 1976, 194-203; C Renfrew (ed), 'The prehistory of Orkney' (1985)

Council for British Archaeology (2012) Archaeological Site Index to Radiocarbon Dates from Great Britain and Ireland [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1017767

Carbon Date. 2005BC. Early Bronze Age Carbon Dates

Report: Charcoal, id as red deer femur, tibia and humerus, from Knowe of Rowiegar [Map], Rousay, Orkney, Scotland.

ID: 4440, C14 ID: Q-1227 Date BP: 4005 +/- 60, Start Date BP: 3945, End BP: 4065

OS Letter: HY, OS East: 373, OS North: 298

Archaeologist Name: W G Grant c 1940s

Reference Name: Antiquity, 50, 1976, 194-203; C Renfrew (ed), 'The prehistory of Orkney' (1985)

Council for British Archaeology (2012) Archaeological Site Index to Radiocarbon Dates from Great Britain and Ireland [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1017767

Europe, British Isles, Scotland, Orkney Islands, Orkney Northern Islands, Rousay, Knowe of Yarso Chambered Cairn [Map]

3500BC. Knowe of Yarso Chambered Cairn [Map] is a Neolithic burial monument located on the island of Rousay in Orkney, Scotland. The site was excavated in the 1930s, and uncovered human and animal bones as well as pottery sherds, flint and bone tools, and arrowheads. The tomb, dating to the period between 3500 and 2500 BC, is a stalled chambered cairn. Archaeological excavation during the 1930s revealed a rectangular-shaped cairn measuring 15 m (49 ft) by 8 m (26 ft) externally and situated northwest-southeast. The cairn encloses a burial monument measuring 8 m (26 ft) by 2 m (6 ft 7 in) with a surviving height of 2 m (6 ft 7 in). The roof to the tomb had been removed at some point when the tomb was robbed. The exterior walls of the tomb display decorative stonework which can be seen near the entrance.

Carbon Date. 2225BC. Early Bronze Age Carbon Dates

Report: Bone, id as ?red deer tibiae, from Knowe of Yarso [Map], Rousay, Orkney, Scotland.

ID: 4443, C14 ID: Q-1225 Date BP: 4225 +/- 60, Start Date BP: 4165, End BP: 4285

OS Letter: HY, OS East: 404, OS North: 281

Archaeologist Name: Callander and Grant 1935

Reference Name: Antiquity, 50, 1976, 194-203; Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 69, 1935, 325-51; C Renfrew (ed), 'The prehistory of Orkney' (1985)

Council for British Archaeology (2012) Archaeological Site Index to Radiocarbon Dates from Great Britain and Ireland [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1017767

Europe, British Isles, Scotland, Orkney Islands, Orkney Northern Islands, Westray, Lum Head Chambered Cairn [Map]

Lum Head Chambered Cairn [Map] is an Orkney-Cromarty type round cairn, known as 'The Lum Head' at about 150' OD on the east edge of a shelf looking over the north part of the island and across to Papa Westray. The mound is 5' high, turf-covered, with fairly steeply rising sides. The actual edge is indefinite but the cairn appears to have had a diameter of about 45' E-W and 55' N-S. None of the core is exposed, but the crest appears to have been removed,for in the centre is a hollow in which are exposed the tops of four upright stones which apparently represent the divisional slabs of a stalled chamber.

Europe, British Isles, Scotland, Orkney Islands, Orkney Northern Islands, Rousay, Midhowe Chambered Cairn [Map]

Midhowe Chambered Cairn [Map] is a particularly well preserved example of the Orkney-Cromarty type of chambered cairn. Tombs of this type are often referred to as "stalled" cairns due to their distinctive internal structure. Stalled cairns have a central passageway flanked by a series of paired transverse stones that separate the side spaces into compartments that reminded early investigators of horse stalls.

Unstan Ware is finely decorated early Neolithic Pottery from the 4th Millenium BC and the 3rd Millenium BC; elegant shallow bowls with a groove-pattern around the rim, or undecorated round bottomed bowls. The name is from the Unstan Chambered Cairn [Map] where the pottery was first found in 1884. Unstan Ware is found in tombs: Midhowe Chambered Cairn [Map], Tomb of the Eagles [Map], Taversoe Tuick [Map] as well as farmsteads: Knap of Howar [Map].

Europe, British Isles, Scotland, Orkney Islands, Orkney, Stromness, Unstan Chambered Cairn [Map]

Unstan Chambered Cairn [Map] is a Neolthic Chambered Tomb located near Stromness.

Unstan Ware is finely decorated early Neolithic Pottery from the 4th Millenium BC and the 3rd Millenium BC; elegant shallow bowls with a groove-pattern around the rim, or undecorated round bottomed bowls. The name is from the Unstan Chambered Cairn [Map] where the pottery was first found in 1884. Unstan Ware is found in tombs: Midhowe Chambered Cairn [Map], Tomb of the Eagles [Map], Taversoe Tuick [Map] as well as farmsteads: Knap of Howar [Map].