With a diameter of 103.6m (340ft), the Ring of Brodgar is the larger of the two stone circles in the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site and one of the biggest in the British …
Howastedgarth – the old name for the Ring of Brodgar?
We finished last week with George Marwick’s claimed “old name” for the Ring of Brodgar – Howastedgarth. I first stumbled across it in 2012, in a transcription of a talk given by Marwick …
In the late 19th century, the Knowe of Onston was opened and found to contain the remains of a Neolithic stalled cairn …
The second stone circle in the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage site is now most commonly known as the Stones of Stenness …
Destruction and reconstruction at the Stones of Stenness
In December 1814, disaster struck the Stones of Stenness when a tenant farmer took it upon himself to obliterate them …
Probably the best-known Neolithic chambered cairn in Orkney, Maeshowe stands less than a mile to the east of the Ness of Brodgar complex …
A standing stone at Maeshowe and the structure that lies beneath
The solstice, an earlier building and standing stone and Norse runes …
Maeshowe and the winter solstice
With its south-westerly facing entrance, Maeshowe’s best known attribute is its orientation towards the setting sun around midwinter …
Back in 2016, a nineteenth century sketch had us pondering whether there might be more to Maeshowe than we see today …
Maeshowe – historic additions, incursions and the Norse runes
The earliest account of Maeshowe is found within the pages of the Orkneyinga saga, which says Viking warriors sought shelter in the chamber in 1153 …
