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34-546: The Dwarfie Stane is a megalithic chambered tomb carved out of a titanic block of Devonian Old Red Sandstone located in a steep-sided glaciated valley between the settlements of Quoys and Rackwick on Hoy , an island in Orkney , Scotland. The stone is a glacial erratic located in desolate peatland . The site is managed by Historic Environment Scotland . The attribution as a tomb was originally based on its resemblance to recognized tombs in southern Europe. The Dwarfie Stane

68-507: A national 'motorway' during the Neolithic and Bronze Age . This evidence perhaps explains how Cumbrian stone axes found their way to Orkney . Unstan ware , a variation on grooved ware, emerged in Orkney . The people who used Unstan ware had totally different burial practices but managed to co-exist with their Grooved ware counterparts. Some hybrid chambered cairns have emerged in this region, containing architectural features of both

102-528: A polygonal chamber and a short passage to one end of the cairn. The Rubha an Dùnain peninsula on the island of Skye provides an example from the 2nd or 3rd millennium BC. Barpa Langass on North Uist is the best preserved chambered cairn in the Hebrides. Bargrennan chambered cairns are a class of passage graves found only in south-west Scotland, in western Dumfries and Galloway and southern Ayrshire . As well as being structurally different from

136-600: A rectangular chamber, separating it into compartments or stalls. The number of these compartments ranges from 4 in the earliest examples to over 24 in an extreme example on Orkney . The actual shape of the cairn varies from simple circular designs to elaborate 'forecourts' protruding from each end, creating what look like small amphitheatres . It is likely that these are the result of cultural influences from mainland Europe , as they are similar to designs found in France and Spain . Examples include Midhowe on Rousay , and both

170-669: A separate group in the Firth of Clyde region, hence the name. Over 100 have been identified in Scotland alone. Lacking a significant passage, they are a form of gallery grave . The burial chamber is normally located at one end of a rectangular or trapezoidal cairn, while a roofless, semi-circular forecourt at the entrance provided access from the outside (although the entrance itself was often blocked), and gives this type of chambered cairn its alternate name of court tomb or court cairn . These forecourts are typically fronted by large stones and it

204-405: Is a 1 metre (3.3 ft) square cut out of the west side of the rock. Inside the tomb is a passage 2.2 metres (7.2 ft) long and two side cells measuring 1.7 metres (5.6 ft) by 1 metre (3.3 ft). Both the passage and the side cells are 1 metre (3.3 ft) high. Right, southern cell has a "pillow" of uncut rock at its inner end. The tomb has been plundered by making an opening through

238-487: Is a poison and a powerful hallucinogen. Since many Grooved ware pots have been found at henge sites and in burials, it is possible that they may have had a ritual purpose as well as a functional one. Grooved ware comes in many sizes, some vessels are extremely large, c. 30 imperial gallons (140 litres; 36 US gallons), and would be suitable for fermentation. The majority are smaller, ranging from jug- to cup-size, and could be used for serving and drinking. The theory that

272-624: Is a variety of 18th- and 19th-century graffiti on the rock-cut tomb. One is an inscription in Persian calligraphy that states "I have sat two nights and so learnt patience" left by Captain William Mounsey , who camped here in 1850. Above the Persian is Mounsey's name written backwards in Latin. 58°53′05″N 3°18′46″W  /  58.88472°N 3.31278°W  / 58.88472; -3.31278 Chambered tomb Typically,

306-539: Is cross or trefoil -shaped and there are no smaller individual compartments. An example is to be found on the uninhabited island of Vementry on the north side of the West Mainland , where it appears that the cairn may have originally been circular and its distinctive heel shape added as a secondary development, a process repeated elsewhere in Shetland. This probably served to make the cairn more distinctive and

340-538: Is some disagreement as to the relationship between the two tomb types. A stone slab originally blocked the entrance to the tomb on its west side, but now lies on the ground in front of it. It is unique in northern Europe , bearing similarity to Neolithic or Bronze Age tombs around the Mediterranean . R. Castleden refers to the Dwarfie Stane as representing "the imported idea of the rock-cut tomb" that

374-510: Is surrounded by an arc of Bronze Age mounds. The central chamber of Holm of Papa Westray South cairn is over 20 metres long. The Bookan type is named after a cairn found to the north-west of the Ring of Brodgar in Orkney, which is now a dilapidated oval mound, about 16 metres in diameter. Excavations in 1861 indicated a rectangular central chamber surrounded by five smaller chambers. Because of

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408-656: Is the name given to a pottery style of the British Neolithic . Its manufacturers are sometimes known as the Grooved ware people . Unlike the later Beaker ware , Grooved culture was not an import from the continent but seems to have developed in Orkney , early in the 3rd millennium BC, and was soon adopted in Great Britain and Ireland . The diagnostic shape for the style is a flat-bottomed pot with straight sides sloping outwards and grooved decoration around

442-554: Is the only chambered tomb in Orkney that is cut from stone rather than built from stones and may be the only example of a Neolithic rock-cut tomb in Britain. However, despite its unique construction, its plan is consistent with the so-called Orkney - Cromarty class of chambered tomb found throughout Orkney . Some authors have referred to this type of tomb as Bookan-class, after a chambered cairn in Mainland , although there

476-497: Is thought the area in front of the cairn was used for public rituals of some kind. The chambers were created from large stones set on end, roofed with large flat stones and often sub-divided by slabs into small compartments. They are generally considered to be the earliest in Scotland. Examples include Cairn Holy I and Cairn Holy II near Newton Stewart , a cairn at Port Charlotte , Islay , which dates to 3900–4000 BC, and Monamore, or Meallach's Grave, Arran , which may date from

510-463: The Inverness area. Corrimony chambered cairn near Drumnadrochit is an example dated to 2000 BC or older. The only surviving evidence of burial was a stain indicating the presence of a single body. The cairn is surrounded by a circle of 11 standing stones. The cairns at Balnuaran of Clava are of a similar date. The largest of three is the north-east cairn, which was partially reconstructed in

544-696: The Unstan Chambered Cairn and Wideford Hill chambered cairn from the Orkney Mainland , both of which date from the mid 4th millennium BC and were probably in use over long periods of time. When the latter was excavated in 1884, grave goods were found that gave their name to Unstan ware pottery. Blackhammer cairn on Rousay is another example dating from the 3rd millennium BC. The Grey Cairns of Camster in Caithness are examples of this type from mainland Scotland. The Tomb of

578-533: The 1950s and named after sites where it was found. Rinyo is a neolithic settlement on the island of Rousay, Orkney. The site at Clacton now lies under the sea. One way the tradition may have spread is through trade routes up the west coast of Britain. What seems unusual is that although they shared the same style of pottery, different regions still maintained vastly different traditions. Evidence at some early Henges ( Mayburgh Henge , Ring of Brodgar , Arbor Low ) suggests that there were staging and trading points on

612-613: The 19th century and the central cairn may have been used as a funeral pyre. Glebe cairn in Kilmartin Glen in Argyll dates from 1700 BC and has two stone cists inside one of which a jet necklace was found during 19th century excavations. There are numerous prehistoric sites in the vicinity including Nether Largie North cairn, which was entirely removed and rebuilt during excavations in 1930. There are 18 Scheduled Ancient Monuments listed: Grooved ware Grooved ware

646-478: The Eagles on South Ronaldsay is a stalled cairn that shows some similarities with the later Maeshowe type. It was in use for 800 years or more and numerous bird bones were found here, predominantly white-tailed sea eagle . The Maeshowe group, named after the famous Orkney monument, is among the most elaborate. They appear relatively late and only in Orkney and it is not clear why the use of cairns continued in

680-407: The chamber is larger than a cist , and will contain a larger number of interments, which are either excarnated bones or inhumations (cremations). Most were situated near a settlement, and served as that community's "graveyard". During the early Neolithic (4000–3300 BC) architectural forms are highly regionalised with timber and earth monuments predominating in the east and stone-chambered cairns in

714-403: The character of civilization in Scotland in the Neolithic. However the increasing use of cropmarks to identify Neolithic sites in lowland areas has tended to diminish the relative prominence of these cairns. In the early phases bones of numerous bodies are often found together and it has been argued that this suggests that in death at least, the status of individuals was played down. During

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748-485: The early fifth millennium BC. Excavations at the Mid Gleniron cairns near Cairnholy revealed a multi-period construction which shed light on the development of this class of chambered cairn. The Orkney-Cromarty group is by far the largest and most diverse. It has been subdivided into Yarrows, Camster and Cromarty subtypes but the differences are extremely subtle. The design is of dividing slabs at either side of

782-541: The first British farmers (c. 4000 BC) had the knowledge and ability to make ale from their crops with their pottery appears to be controversial and not yet widely discussed by the archaeological community. The earliest examples have been found in Orkney and may have evolved from earlier Unstan ware bowls. Excavations at nearby Ness of Brodgar have revealed many sherds of finely decorated Grooved ware pottery, some of it representing very large pots. Many drinking vessels have also been identified. The style soon spread and it

816-557: The forecourt area more defined. Like the Shetland cairn the Hebridean group appear relatively late in the Neolithic. They are largely found in the Outer Hebrides , although a mixture of cairn types are found here. These passage graves are usually larger than the Shetland type and are round or have funnel-shaped forecourts, although a few are long cairns – perhaps originally circular but with later tails added. They often have

850-504: The late Neolithic henge sites were constructed and single burials began to become more commonplace; by the Bronze Age it is possible that even where chambered cairns were still being built they had become the burial places of prominent individuals rather than of communities as a whole. The Clyde or Clyde-Carlingford type are principally found in northern and western Ireland and southwestern Scotland. They first were identified as

884-461: The nearby Clyde cairns, Bargrennan cairns are distinguished by their siting and distribution; they are found in upland, inland areas of Galloway and Ayrshire. In addition to the increasing prominence of individual burials, during the Bronze Age regional differences in architecture in Scotland became more pronounced. The Clava cairns date from this period, with about 50 cairns of this type in

918-543: The north when their construction had largely ceased elsewhere in Scotland. They consist of a central chamber from which lead small compartments, into which burials would be placed. The central chambers are tall and steep-sided and have corbelled roofing faced with high quality stone. In addition to Maeshowe itself, which was constructed c. 2700 BC, there are various other examples from the Orkney Mainland. These include Quanterness chambered cairn (3250 BC) in which

952-571: The remains of 157 individuals were found when excavated in the 1970s, Cuween Hill near Finstown which was found to contain the bones of men, dogs and oxen and Wideford Hill chambered cairn , which dates from 2000 BC. Examples from elsewhere in Orkney are the Vinquoy chambered cairn , and the Huntersquoy chambered cairn , both found on the north end of the island of Eday and Quoyness on Sanday constructed about 2900 BC and which

986-497: The roof of the chamber. The time of this event is not known, but the hole in the roof had been noted by the 16th century. The hole was repaired with concrete in the 1950s or 1960s. The name is derived from local legend that a dwarf named Trollid lived there, although, ironically, the tomb has also been claimed as the work of giants. Its existence was popularised in Walter Scott 's novel The Pirate published in 1821. There

1020-525: The structure's unusual design, it was originally presumed to be an early form. However, later interpretations and further excavation work in 2002 suggested that they have more in common with the later Maeshowe type rather than the stalled Orkney-Cromarty cairns. Huntersquoy chambered cairn on Eday is a double storied Orkney–Cromarty type cairn with a Booken-type lower chamber. The Shetland or Zetland group are relatively small passage graves, that are round or heel-shaped in outline. The whole chamber

1054-525: The top. Beyond this the pottery comes in many varieties, some with complex geometric decorations others with applique bands added. The latter has led some archaeologists to argue that the style is a skeuomorph and is derived from wicker basketry. Grooved ware pots excavated at Balfarg in Fife have been chemically analysed to determine their contents. It appears that some of the vessels there may have been used to hold black henbane ( Hyoscyamus niger ) which

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1088-467: The west. During the later Neolithic (3300–2500 BC) massive circular enclosures and the use of grooved ware and Unstan ware pottery emerge. Scotland has a particularly large number of chambered cairns; they are found in various different types described below. Along with the excavations of settlements such as Skara Brae , Links of Noltland , Barnhouse , Rinyo and Balfarg and the complex site at Ness of Brodgar these cairns provide important clues to

1122-462: Was "tried once and found to be unsatisfactory", perhaps due to the hardness, as it has been described as being built from "extremely compact" Old Red Sandstone by folklorist Hugh Miller who was also a stonemason by trade. There is no direct evidence, however, of any link to the builders of the Mediterranean rock-cut tombs. The stone is 8.6 metres (28 ft) long, by 4 metres (13 ft) wide and up to 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) high. The entrance

1156-498: Was used by the builders of the first phase of Stonehenge . Grooved ware pottery has been found in abundance in excavations at Durrington Walls and Marden Henge in Wiltshire. Here, the feasting would have involved drinking ale and eating pork. Smaller quantities of Grooved ware have been found at the nearby site of Figsbury Ring . Grooved ware was previously referred to as Rinyo-Clacton ware, first identified by Stuart Piggott in

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