Calf of Eday

Calf of Eday
North end of the Calf
Waters	North Sea
Archipelago	Orkney
Geographical location	59 ° 14 ′ 0 ″  N , 2 ° 44 ′ 0 ″  W Coordinates: 59 ° 14 ′ 0 ″  N , 2 ° 44 ′ 0 ″  W
surface	2.43 km²
Highest elevation	54  m
Residents	uninhabited

Calf of Eday is a small, now uninhabited island off the northeast coast of Eday , an island in the Orkney in Scotland .

The island, which is practically inaccessible for normal tourists, offers two prehistoric monuments of outstanding importance for the construction and economic history discussion in the Scotland-Orkney context.

On the one hand there is the so-called potters workshop of one of the orcadish roundhouses , which are discussed as the predecessor of the classic brochs , and the Stalled Cairns . The island's Longcairn is one of the few places on the northern islands where ceramics from the bell-cup culture have been found.

The other object is the so-called salt works , an industrial monument from the 2nd half of the 17th century directly on the northwest coast of the island. These salt works were created as part of the efforts of the Scottish Crown from around 1670 to break the (late Hanseatic) salt monopoly for the fish processing of the Dutch, German and Scandinavian fishermen in Northern Scotland (emergence of mattjes production such as the salt preservation of cod / cod).

The building of the salt works by Eday is a simple, rectangular field stone construction with a central room divider. The middle wall was heated from one side by an open peat fire, then sea water was poured over the hot wall from the other side, which evaporated due to the heat. The remaining salt crystals were scraped off and placed in bags.

Production was discontinued after just a few years because the quality of the salt (peaty aftertaste) did not meet the requirements of the fishing industry and the transport of the required peat quantities from Eday to Calf was too expensive.

Touristic

Apart from participating in the excursions of the OAT - Orkney Archaeological Trust (approx. Twice a year) or taking part in one of the teaching excursions of the archaeologists who regularly dig on Orkney (which are possible at any time through the mediation of VisitOrkney, the local tourism association), the island is open to visitors ) hardly attainable. The objects themselves have not been developed or prepared for a public presentation, so that a visit is only recommended with an expert guide.

Web links

Commons : Calf of Eday  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Description (with map, English)