To mark the end of our Tombs of the Isles project, which looked at Neolithic chambered cairns in Orkney’s North Isles, the final report and a poster map/leaflet are now available to download.
Led by Dan Lee, of the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA), and funded by the North Isles Landscape Partnership, Tombs of the Isles saw a programme of research, walks, schools and art workshops and archaeological fieldwork carried out across the North Isles.
Commissioned in early 2020, the project had to be postponed due to the pandemic but was relaunched in late 2021. As well as on-site activities, it saw the creation an online catalogue of known and suspected North Isles chambered cairns along with a series of videos introducing the subject.
Geophysical surveys at two suspected Sanday sites – Ruthietaing and Whalgeo – suggested they were not the remains of Neolithic chambered cairns. However, results from the Knowe of Lingro in Rousay; Castle Bloody, Shapinsay, and Cutter’s Tuo, Stronsay, suggest that all three remain potential tomb candidates.
The final report and poster/leaflet can be downloaded here.
