TOMB OF THE ISLES
NEW PROJECT EXPLORING THE NEOLITHIC TOMBS OF THE NORTH ISLES OF ORKNEY
Mention Neolithic chambered tombs, and Maeshowe immediately springs to mind. But, spectacular though it is, Maeshowe is just one of a huge number of chambered cairns in Orkney.
A new project by the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA), part of the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute, aims to celebrate, research and share the stories of Neolithic tombs, in Orkney’s North Isles (all of the islands north of the Orkney Mainland).
The Tombs of the Isles project, funded North Isles Landscape Partnership Scheme (NILPS), takes a community-focused approach to Neolithic funerary sites in Orkney. Due to start in 2021, an activities programme of research, walks, arts workshops, archaeological fieldwork (survey, geophysics, excavation) and school workshops will explore well and lesser-known burial monuments, setting them in a wider context.
Where are the Neolithic tombs, what did they contain and what were they used for? How were they built and what were they like? When did they stop being used, and what has happened to them since? These are among some of the questions the project will explore with residents in the North Isles.
Dan Lee is ORCA’S Lifelong Learning and Outreach Archaeologist.
He explains: “We are really looking forward to working with islanders to celebrate the amazing Neolithic tombs in the North Isles of Orkney, and bring some of these less-explored sites into focus. Who knows what new stories they can tell?”
With the help of island-based archaeologists, the project will create island-specific archives and, when possible, will undertake new fieldwork which will feed into the creation of a new “Tombs Trail.”
New 3D models of tombs will be hosted on digital tablets and online for heritage centres and schools. Other activities will include public talks, training workshops (research, field techniques), creative workshops (rock art) and a short course on Neolithic archaeology. In all, the project will bring together what we know about the tombs of the isles, undertake new research, and create new ways of sharing their stories.
The Neolithic sits at the heart of the imagination and identity of Orkney. Beginning some 5,500 years ago and spanning a staggering 2,500 years, the Neolithic was when people first farmed the land, grew crops, made pottery and adopted new forms of objects such as polished axes and maceheads. It is also the time when communities started to build substantial permanent houses, first of timber and then stone, for both the living and the dead.
The Neolithic was a time when people’s relationship with the dead, and their ancestors, changed. People were now buried communally in tombs, where bones and other offerings were jumbled together into one ancestral collective.
In Orkney, there are over 81 stone-built tombs of various architectural styles — “Maeshowe”, “Stalled” and “Bookan” types — with 53 of these located in the North Isles.
In Orkney, there has been a long history of archaeological investigations into Neolithic tombs, famously at Maeshowe, Tomb of the Eagles and Quanterness. More recently, investigations have explored Neolithic settlements and houses, such as at the Ness of Brodgar and Barnhouse, in addition to the extensive settlement at Skara Brae.
For more information visit www.nilps.co.uk