Knowe of Rowiegar

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The Knowe of Rowiegar on the Orkney island of Rousay is the remainder of a passage tomb of the Stalled Cairn or Orkney-Cromarty (OC) type, a megalithic form of the 4th and 3rd millennium BC that was widespread in Scotland . It got the name Stalled Cairn from the fact that the burial chamber is divided into rows of stalls by thin panels placed at intervals on both sides. The type is represented with 60 plants on the Orkney and associated with the Unstan Ware as ceramics . Knowe, Know or Knoll is the local name for a small, round hill, ( English Hillock ).

The mound was excavated by WG Grant in 1937. The southeast end of the chamber was badly damaged. All traces of the access side (a third of the length) were destroyed by the construction of a basement ( English Earth house ). The remainder, the entire upper area of ​​which is also missing, consists of ten boxes facing each other and an end chamber and is about 18.0 m long. At least two other side boxes were destroyed by the basement. The north-west-south-east oriented roughly rectangular cairn is about 27.0 m long and 6.5 to 7.5 m wide. Iron Age building remains and objects were found around the cairn that were dated using the ceramic. The mass of the cairn masonry is in the area of ​​a thick arched wall that protrudes towards the beach and similarly occurs in the nearby Midhowe Cairn .

Numerous finds including pottery and stone utensils are in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland. In 2005, a box of human remains was discovered in a museum in Aberdeen. This allows the bones to be examined and dated. One aspect is that Rowiegar's skulls were intentionally smashed. Since there are no examples of similar practices in other megalithic complexes on Orkney, the meaning is unclear.

Knowe of Swandro

Knowe of Swandro

The Knowe of Swandro (about 200 m from Knowe of Rowiegar) is a large, heavily disturbed hill near the beach of 24.0 × 8.0 m in area and 1.5 m in height, on the Bay of Swandro, on the Orkney island of Rousay in Scotland , which was regarded as a brochure . The discovery of Iron Age buildings nearby seemed to support the idea.

A strangely shaped stone that was visible below the hill among the pebbles on the beach indicated that the stones were part of a prehistoric building that was on the high water mark, was partially buried by the rocky beach and remains acutely at risk from erosion.

The concentric rings of wall stones that were exposed pointed to a Neolithic chamber tomb with later Iron Age fixtures.The pottery pointed to the Iron Age, which was confirmed by the 14C dating of animal bones and barley, which date between 25 BC. And 130 AD. It is possible that the core is a group of Viking graves . This suggestion is supported by the fact that a typical Viking sword and shield were plowed nearby. On the other hand, the Viking remains may have been incorporated into an existing structure and are possibly connected to the nearby Viking Hall.

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 .

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Coordinates: 59 ° 9 '0.7 "  N , 3 ° 5' 45.7"  W.