HY3112 : Maeshowe
taken 3 years ago, near to Sultigeo, Mainland, Orkney Islands, Scotland

Maeshowe is a Chambered Cairn and Passage Grave on the A965 between Hobbister and Barnhouse on Mainland, Orkney. It is thought to date from c.2800BC, or possibly as early as 3400BC, i.e. around five thousand years ago.
It is part of the "Heart of Neolithic Orkney" UNESCO World Heritage Site - designated as such in 1999 - see Link
Originally it is almost certain that it would have contained a number of bodies, but none of these have remained to the present day as the tomb was looted on a number of occasions with any grave goods and treasures being taken - quite why the bones were removed too is not explained. For comparison, the considerably smaller Quoyness Chambered Cairn Link contained the bones of 10 adults and 5 children which were removed from that cairn when it was excavated, suggesting that Maeshowe would have contained at least this number of inhumations.
Some Viking "visitors" who broke into the tomb in the C12thAD left Runic inscriptions, some of which mentioned treasure, though it seems they found none.
See Linkfor more information on these inscriptions.
A 10m (33') long low passage leads from the entrance into the capacious Central Chamber constructed from finely placed large stones. Around the Winter Solstice the sunlight at sunset streams along this entrance into the chamber. Four large upright stones at the corners of this inner chamber may have been earlier standing stones which are included for purely ceremonial purposes as they do not support the roof or form any part of the structure itself. Three smaller cells lead off from the centre of each of the other (non-entrance) walls - these are where the human bones or skeletons would have been stored. This is a pretty standard configuration for cairns of this type especially in the Orkneys, where similar cairns are said to be of the "Maeshowe" type.
Maeshowe cairn in total is about 35m (115') in diameter and rises to a maximum height of about 7m (23').
The construction quality of the stonework is outstanding and the achievement of these ancient builders is quite remarkable when it is realised that some of the stones weigh in excess of 20 tons/tonnes. These finely cut stones were fashioned only with wood, antler and other stones as no metal instruments had yet been created. There is a good article with interior photos here: Link
HES run this ancient site - see visiting details here: Link![]()
Unfortunately currently internal photography is not permitted.
For more information, see Wikipedia article here: Link
and Canmore website here: Link
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
There are about 20,000 scheduled monuments in England representing about 37,000 heritage assets. Of the tens of thousands of scheduled monuments in the UK, most are inconspicuous archaeological sites, but some are large ruins.
Wikipedia: Link![]()