| Type: | Orkney-Cromarty. Round cairn. Tripartite chamber. |
| Location: | Map |
| Notes: | The remains of the Knowe of Craie stand on a low knoll on the south-eastern slop of Kierfea Hill. It had been opened in antiquity and was excavated by landowner Walter Grant in 1941 – although no report was published. It is now a grass-grown spread of stones. The chamber was 4.6m long and 2.7m at its widest. It was divided into three compartments by two pairs of orthostats with evidence of “benches” on both sides. The entrance was in the eastern side, via a 2.8m long passage that was 0.7m wide at the outer end. A poorly preserved skull was found in the centre of the innermost compartment. There appeared to be two floor levels in the chamber. In the innermost compartment, and possibly elsewhere, the upper floor was clay, below which was a layer of “dark ashes” which spread over the whole chamber. Outside the cairn, on the north side of the entrance, was a small rock-cut hollow, about 0.45m across by 0.23m deep. It contained ashes, fragments of burnt bone, flint chips and pottery sherds. |
| Links: | Canmore |
| References: | Davidson, J. L. & Henshall, A. S. (1989). The Chambered Cairns of Orkney. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. |
