Prehistoric Site sights in Rousay
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Blackhammer Cairn
Blackhammer, 1.5 miles west of the ferry pier, is a chambered cairn that served as the burial place for a farming community around 2500 BC. Only two sets of human remains were found here, along with animal bones and fragments of neolithic pottery.
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Knowe of Yarso
A boggy half-mile walk from the road leads to the Knowe of Yarso, a stalled cairn; it contained the remains of 29 adults, and was in use from 2900 BC to 1900 BC.
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Midhowe Tomb
Dating from around 3500 BC, the 30m-long Midhowe Tomb, dubbed the ‘Great Ship of Death’, is the longest chambered cairn in Orkney. The vast stone tomb is covered by a modern stone building, and has a suspended walkway allowing you to walk above the main passage and see the 24 stone ‘stalls’ where the bones of 25 people were discovered.
As well as human remains, many bird and animal bones were found in the cave, perhaps meant as food for the deceased. The cairn is 5.5 miles west of the pier and a steep 550m walk down from the road.
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Midhowe Broch
Next to the Midhowe Tomb is Midhowe Broch, the sturdy stone lines of which echo the stratifications of the rocky shoreline. The best example of a broch in Orkney, it's a muscular, Iron Age fortified compound with a central partition fashioned out of stone slabs, with two hearths, water tanks, quern stones and lots of Skara Brae–style stonebuilt storage shelves.
Dating from around 100 BC, it has a cluster of well-preserved outbuldings, including dwelling houses (you can see the holes for the hinge pins of wooden doors) and a forge for smelting iron.
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Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick is an intriguing burial cairn constructed on two levels, with separate entrances – perhaps a joint tomb for different families, a semi-detached solution to a shortage of afterlife housing. You can squeeze into the cairn and descend a steel ladder to explore both levels, but there’s not much space.
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