Crantit Cairn

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The excavation of the Crantit Cairn (sometimes referred to as Crantit Souterrain ), at St. Ola, south of Kirkwall on the Orkney Island of Mainland , Scotland, took place immediately after the discovery in 1998. It was recorded by the BBC and forensic scientists were involved in the investigation . Forensic scientists were brought in to look for better evidence of prehistoric burials.

description

When the approximately 5000 year old undisturbed Cairn was opened, an extremely unusual structure, unique on Orkney, emerged. The tomb, which was unusually deepened into the ground and built without the use of megaliths, was very small, almost diamond-shaped and divided into sections with four vertical stone slabs in the style of the Stalled Cairns , which formed a kind of clover leaf . The small subterranean structure of Crantit is architecturally fundamentally different from the easily visible mounds of most chamber tombs. It also differs in the small number of people buried and the lack of grave goods.

Between 1998 and 2002 the stone boxes at Kewing and Nether Onston were also discovered during agricultural activities. All three locations span a period from the end of the late Neolithic to the end of the early Bronze Age. Together, the changes in funeral customs also show changes in society. The opposing ideology behind the structure of Crantit with simultaneous similarities indicates the tensions and differences between the old and new ideology.

Finds

Only the north and south chambers were occupied, which could indicate that the facility was used twice. In the northern section, the archaeologists found three skulls. The skulls were in poor condition and had been lying on top of a pile of other bones. In the southern section, which was filled with earth, a crushed fourth skull was found. The find situation is typical for the Cairns of the Orkney. The Crantit Cairn does not contain any body burial either, but only a few selected bones. Below that were a left kneecap, left hand and foot, right leg, left pelvis, and right arm. Despite the poor condition, it was possible to get some information. The largest skull belonged to a woman over 30 years old. One of the two smaller ones belonged to a child between the ages of four and six, while a wisdom tooth in the third pile revealed that the third buried person was around 15 years old. The fourth skull was too badly damaged to identify any details. The findings were significantly worse than hoped and in an advanced state of decomposition, making DNA testing impossible. No pottery or other artifacts were found, and the forensic team found no further evidence. A similar structure was found with the chamber tomb on the Brodgar Ness .

literature

  • Beverley Ballin Smith: Between Tomb and Cist. The Funerary Monuments of Crantit, Kewing and Nether Onston, Orkney. The Orcadian, Kirkwall 2014, ISBN 978-1-902957-66-1 .

Web links

Coordinates: 58 ° 58 ′ 21.3 "  N , 2 ° 58 ′ 32.8"  W.