A group of UHI Archaeology Institute students are participating in the excavation of a lifetime in Orkney’s East Mainland – investigating a forgotten Neolithic chambered cairn in the parish of Holm.
In 2023, the excavation at Blomuir – directed by Dr Hugo Anderson-Whymark, National Museums Scotland, and Professor Vicki Cummings, Cardiff University – revealed the remains of a Maeshowe-type chambered cairn.
Featuring a central chamber, accessed by a seven-metre-long passage, and surrounded by six side cells, the structure had been largely destroyed in the late 18th or early 19th century to supply building stone for a nearby farmhouse.
In 1896, however, traces of walling were noted along with eight human skeletons, a stone macehead and a stone ball.
Last year, the dig team revealed 14 articulated skeletons of men, women and children in one of the structure’s side cells, along with other disarticulated remains.
The team is now back on site to continue excavation, along with UHI Archaeology Institute students taking part our fourth field school of the season this week and next.
Although commonly referred to as “tombs”, very few of Orkney’s chambered cairns were found to contain human remains – and those that did were excavated in the 19th or early 20th centuries.
This is what makes the Holm cairn so significant. The fact it contains human remains will allow the archaeologists to use modern scientific techniques, including DNA analysis, to reveal much about the life of those placed within the structure. This includes information such as their health, where they grew up and how, if at all, they were related.
In addition, only 12 Maeshowe-type cairns are known in Orkney, including Maeshowe, Cuween and Quoyness. Although Maeshowe only has three side cells, the Holm cairn’s layout is akin to that of Quanterness and Quoyness, which also had six cells.
The excavation is funded by Society of Antiquaries of London, Orkney Islands Council Archaeology Fund, University of Central Lancashire and National Museums Scotland.
If you are interested in studying archaeology at the UHI Archaeology Institute, details of our courses are available here.
