The huge Midhowe cairn, in Rousay, was excavated by William Grant between 1932 and 1934.
The excavation was captured on film by David Wilson, an Edinburgh surveyor and draughtsman who had been called on to plan the site.
Wilson went on to work on Grant’s other archaeological projects in the island, leaving an photographic archive of Rousay’s best known Neolithic sites under excavation.
Prints of these photographs in the Orkney Sites and Monuments Record have recently been digitised and we plan to add to the relevant entries of the Tombs of the Isles section.
We begin today with Midhowe, which is available here. Please note, the photographs include two featuring human remains.
