Knowe of Ramsay

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The Knowe of Ramsay is a megalithic complex of the Orkney-Cromarty type (OC). The Stalled Cairn is located near a natural terrace edge above the south coast of the Orkney island of Rousay in Scotland with a view of the Knowe of Lairo north of the coastal road that runs along Wyre Sound in the south of the island.

It is now a grassy hill with a hollow in the middle from which some stone slabs protrude. It already had this appearance when it was found and before the excavations began in 1935 as it was badly robbed and disturbed. The northeast-southwest oriented cairn is about 30.0 m long. The approximately 4.5 m wide entrance passage is square. The side walls are made of horizontally laid stones that have fallen into disrepair, but have been preserved in places up to a height of 1.3 m. The corridor is about two meters long and 0.5 m wide, with a maximum height of about 0.8 m. The chamber is approximately 27 m long and between 1.2 and 2.0 m wide. It is divided into 13 pairs of side niches and a head niche. These 27 niches represent the largest number of niches ever determined. The niches are formed by panels that protrude into the room and are 0.75 to 1.35 m high.

A small stone box was found near the southwest corner of the fifth alcove (from the entrance). The chamber contained six small pieces of reddish pottery, a scraper, and five flint fragments, as well as broken, rotten human bones and numerous animal bones.

The remains of another cairn, of which only five stones are visible, are nearby.

Nearby are the Blackhammer , Knowe of Lairo , Midhowe Cairn and Taversoe Tuick facilities .

literature

  • 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 .
  • 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 .
  • M. Platt: Report on the animal bones in tht chambered cairn Knowe of Ramsay Orkney In: JG Callander, WG Grant, A. Low (Ed.): A long stalled cairn or mausoleum (rousay type) near Midhowe, Rousay, Orkney. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 68. Vol. 68, pp. 320-350.

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Coordinates: 59 ° 8 '4.6 "  N , 3 ° 2' 58"  W.