Bookan Cairn

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The Bookan Cairn is a megalithic complex located northwest of the Ring of Brodgar near Sandwick, on Mainland the main island of the Scottish Orkney , in a rich archaeological landscape and named for a form of Orcadian megalithic complex.

The cairn is a dilapidated oval hill about 16.0 m in diameter, inside which some chamber subdivisions are visible. Excavated in 1861, it lies near the Ring of Bookan , a henge monument with a rampart and moat, at the northern end of the Ness of Brodgar.

First excavation

The investigation in the 19th century revealed a rectangular central chamber, like a maple leaf, surrounded by five smaller side chambers. Human remains were found in three of the side chambers, along with pottery and a flint spearhead . It was initially assumed that, due to the unusual design, it was a very early example of a grave complex that was classified as unique and more or less was forgotten. The assumption that the Bookan Cairn comes from the early Neolithic was refuted by the found pottery . The description matched the Grooved Ware instead of the Early Neolithic Unstan Ware . The fact that the architecture is similar to Maeshowe and House 2 by Barnhouse also spoke in favor.

Second excavation

In particular, a two-week investigation in 2002 revealed that the earlier investigation had only uncovered one phase of the facility. Only after the original grave, which was about seven meters in diameter, had fallen into disrepair, was it built into a pile of stones about 16 m in diameter, which was covered by the three concentric masonry. Aspects such as the arrangement of side chambers around a central chamber and the detachable doors of the side chambers are more in keeping with the Maeshowe type than with the older Orkney-Cromarty -type (OC) systems such as Midhowe . But despite certain similarities with Maes Howe, Bookan remains clearly different from the rest of the Cairns on Orkney due to its shape and some architectural aspects (see basic plan at Canmore).

The previous categorizations are misleading, however, because the Cairns of the Orkney do not necessarily fit into a category. Instead there are a number of variants or chimeras.

literature

  • RR Bishop; MJ Church; PA Rowley-Conwy: Cereals, fruits and nuts in the Scottish Neolithic Proc Soc Antiq Scot, vol. 139, 2009. pp. 26, 28, 31, 53, 56, 57, 61, 77, 78, 91, 103-4
  • James L. Davidson, Audrey S. Henshall: The chambered cairns of Orkney. An inventory of the structures and their contents. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 1989, ISBN 0-85224-547-5 .
  • Anna Ritchie: Orkney and Shetland (= Exploring Scotland's Heritage. ). Published for Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland by HMSO, Edinburgh 1985, ISBN 0-11-492458-9 .

Web links

Coordinates: 59 ° 0 ′ 39 "  N , 3 ° 14 ′ 45.2"  W.