Europe, British Isles, Scotland, Orkney Islands, Orkney, Ness of Brodgar, Maeshowe Chambered Cairn [Map]
Maeshowe Chambered Cairn is in Ness of Brodgar, Maeshowe Type Chambered Cairn.
Carbon Date. 3094BC. Middle Neolithic Carbon Dates
Report: From under bank - ?OGS at Maes Howe [Map], Orkney, Scotland.
ID: 4445, C14 ID: SRR-791 Date BP: 5094 +/- 60, Start Date BP: 5034, End BP: 5154
OS Letter: HY, OS East: 318, OS North: 128
Archaeologist Name: C Renfrew
Reference Name: Antiquity, 50, 1976, 194-203
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. 2135BC. Early Bronze Age Carbon Dates
Report: Silty peat above bedrock at Maes Howe [Map], Orkney, Scotland.
ID: 4446, C14 ID: SRR-505 Date BP: 4135 +/- 65, Start Date BP: 4070, End BP: 4200
OS Letter: HY, OS East: 318, OS North: 128
Archaeologist Name: C Renfrew
Reference Name: Antiquity, 50, 1976, 194-203
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. 1970BC. Middle Bronze Age Carbon Dates
Report: Silty peat above bedrock at Maes Howe [Map], Orkney, Scotland. Comment (lab): duplicate of SRR-505
ID: 4447, C14 ID: Q-1482 Date BP: 3970 +/- 70, Start Date BP: 3900, End BP: 4040
OS Letter: HY, OS East: 318, OS North: 128
Archaeologist Name: C Renfrew
Reference Name: Antiquity, 50, 1976, 194-203
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. 1765BC. Middle Bronze Age Carbon Dates
Report: Silty peat from S trench - basal organic material at Maes Howe [Map], Orkney, Scotland.
ID: 4474, C14 ID: Q-1481 Date BP: 3765 +/- 70, Start Date BP: 3695, End BP: 3835
OS Letter: HY, OS East: 318, OS North: 128
Archaeologist Name: C Renfrew
Reference Name: C Renfrew, 'Investigations in Orkney' (Res Rep Soc Antiq London 38), 1979, 71; C Renfrew, '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. 1660BC. Middle Bronze Age Carbon Dates
Report: Silty peat from N trench - lower organic layer on inner slope of ditch at Maes Howe [Map], Orkney, Scotland.
ID: 4475, C14 ID: SRR-504 Date BP: 3660 +/- 45, Start Date BP: 3615, End BP: 3705
OS Letter: HY, OS East: 318, OS North: 128
Archaeologist Name: C Renfrew
Reference Name: C Renfrew, 'Investigations in Orkney' (Res Rep Soc Antiq London 38), 1979, 71; C Renfrew, '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. 1445BC. Late Bronze Age Carbon Dates
Report: Silty peat from S trench - basal organic material at Maes Howe [Map], Orkney, Scotland. Comment (lab): replicate measurement of Q-1481
ID: 4476, C14 ID: SRR-524 Date BP: 3445 +/- 50, Start Date BP: 3395, End BP: 3495
OS Letter: HY, OS East: 318, OS North: 128
Archaeologist Name: C Renfrew
Reference Name: C Renfrew, 'Investigations in Orkney' (Res Rep Soc Antiq London 38), 1979, 71; C Renfrew, '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. 880BC. Early Iron Age Carbon Dates
Report: Silty peat from S trench at Maes Howe [Map], Orkney, Scotland.
ID: 4477, C14 ID: SRR-523 Date BP: 2880 +/- 45, Start Date BP: 2835, End BP: 2925
OS Letter: HY, OS East: 318, OS North: 128
Archaeologist Name: C Renfrew
Reference Name: C Renfrew, 'Investigations in Orkney' (Res Rep Soc Antiq London 38), 1979, 71; C Renfrew, '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. 315. Late Iron Age Carbon Dates
Report: Silty peat from S trench - basal organic material at Maes Howe [Map], Orkney, Scotland.
ID: 4478, C14 ID: SRR-522 Date BP: 1685 +/- 45, Start Date BP: 1640, End BP: 1730
OS Letter: HY, OS East: 318, OS North: 128
Archaeologist Name: C Renfrew
Reference Name: C Renfrew, 'Investigations in Orkney' (Res Rep Soc Antiq London 38), 1979, 71; C Renfrew, '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. 765. Early Medieval
Report: Silty peat from S trench - basal organic material at Maes Howe [Map], Orkney, Scotland.
ID: 4479, C14 ID: SRR-521 Date BP: 1235 +/- 40, Start Date BP: 1195, End BP: 1275
OS Letter: HY, OS East: 318, OS North: 128
Archaeologist Name: C Renfrew
Reference Name: C Renfrew, 'Investigations in Orkney' (Res Rep Soc Antiq London 38), 1979, 71; C Renfrew, '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. 953. Early Medieval
Report: From later make-up of bank - ? Norse at Maes Howe [Map], Orkney, Scotland.
ID: 4448, C14 ID: SRR-792 Date BP: 1047 +/- 65, Start Date BP: 982, End BP: 1112
OS Letter: HY, OS East: 318, OS North: 128
Archaeologist Name: C Renfrew
Reference Name: Antiquity, 50, 1976, 194-203
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
Archaeological Journal Volume 18 Opening of Maes-Howe. Notice Of The Opening Of A Tumulus In The Parish Of Stenness, On The Mainland Of Orkney.1. By George Petrie, Of Kirkwall, Cor. Mem. S.A. Scot.
During several successive summers James Farrer, Esq., M.P., has visited Orkney, and has excavated a considerable number of the Tumuli which abound in the islands. I have had the pleasure of assisting him with my local knowledge in all these excavations, and I have preserved notes, measurements, and sketches of all that has been done and found.
On occasion of his visit in 1860, Mr. Farrer expressed a desire to open all the larger tumuli in the vicinity of the circle of standing stones at Brogar, Stenness. Some of these had been previously excavated by him, and a large stone urn was found in one of them. By his request I communicated his wish to the Society of Antiquaries in Edinburgh, and their Secretary, Mr. Stuart, immediately wrote to Mr. David Balfour, of Balfour and Trenabie, on whose lands the stones and tumuli stand, and his consent to the excavations was cordially given. As it was then late in the season the work was postponed till the following summer, when it was arranged that a deputation from Edinburgh should be present at the opening of the tumuli. The beginning of July was accordingly fixed; and, in the course of a correspondence between Mr. Balfour and myself on the subject he suggested that a large tumulus in the parish of Stenness, known in the district by the name of Maes-how [Map], and not far distant from the remarkable circle of standing stones known as the Ring of Stenness, should be explored. I immediately acquainted Mr. Farrer with Mr. Balfour's proposal, and he at once agreed to include it in his operations. To expedite matters I visited the place before Mr. Parrer's arrival, and arranged with the contractor for the work, as to the part of the tumulus at which the excavations were to be commenced. Most fortunately it happened that the spot selected was directty over the gallery or passage which leads to the centre of the tumulus, and the covering stones (A and B) of the passage were soon reached.
Note 1. Communicated to the Section of Antiquities, at the Meeting of the Archaeological Institute at Peterborough, July, 1861.
Archaeological Journal Volume 20 Section III. Immediately after the examination of the Bookan barrow the large mound, familiarly known in Orkney as Maes-how [Map], was opened by Mr. Farrer, on the suggestion of Mr. David Balfour, of Balfour and Trenabie, the proprietor of the estate on which Maes-how stands. While the excavations were in progress, I ventured to express an opinion that the building had originally been the chambered tomb of some celebrated warrior or chieftain, and subsequent examinations of the structure, and a comparison with other unquestionably sepulchral mounds, confirmed my first impressions, and left no doubt that Maes-how originally was as certainly a tomb as the Bookan barrow. Now, this point being settled, if it can also be shown that Maes-how belongs in reality to the class of so-called Picts'-houses, the true character of the latter will no longer be a mystery. This I think can be best done by referring to the ground-plan and elevation, from which it will be seen that Maes-how does possess all the usual characteristics of a Picts'-house.2 It has, indeed, been built with more than ordinary care, and the cells are on a higher level than the floor of the central chamber, but in all other important respects the resemblance is complete. In short, it appears to me that Maes-how is identical with the so-called Picts'-houses, and therefore if the former was originally a chambered tomb, of which there seems to be no doubt, the latter may, without hesitation, be classified with the sepulchral buildings of the early colonists of Orkney.
Note 2. Compare the ground-plan and sections of Maes-how, in this Journal, vol. xviii., p. 355.
Archaeologia Volume 34 1851 XIII Orkney Chapter II. But the most remarkable tumulus in Orkney is situated a mile to the north-east of the Ring of Stenness, and is called M'eshoo or Meashowe [Map].a This is a very large mound, thirty-six feet in height, and ninety'two in diameter, and is of a bluntly conical outline. The mound occupies the centre of a raised circular platform, which has a radius of eighty-six feet. This is surrounded by a trench twenty feet in breadth, and a circular bank probably inclosed the whole. Many attempts had been made to explore it, as there are several small heaps upon its sides; but at last sufficient force and perseverance was brought to work, and a huge mis-shapen mass upon the east side shews the explorers were successful." Unfortunately no inventory was published of its stores; and such will too generally be the case, so long as the possession of a metal ring or bracelet is liable to be hunted for by an official (like a kittywake by the Skoutie-allan) till the precious bait is disgorged. The law of treasure-trove fuses nearly all antiquities of gold or silver; they find their way to a watch-cobler, and thence to a crucible. It is a mere fiction to assert, that either Queen, Government, or nation can derive any pecuniary benefit from the few articles that are occasionally turned up; in fact, neither of these parties ever see them; and the only way to prevent their conversion is to let it be known that they are the property of those who find them, and that the lucky individual is to get the largest amount of sterling money that the articles will fetch in open market. The more they cost the purchaser, the greater will be the chance of their ultimate preservation.
Note a. Its elevation is marked upon the General Plan.