Taversoe Tuick Chambered Cairn
Taversoe Tuick cairn · Taversoe Tuick broch-cairn
Late Neolithic·Grooved Ware / Maeshowe tradition·🇬🇧 Rousay, Orkney, Scotland, United Kingdom
About
About Taversoe Tuick Chambered Cairn
Unique two-storey chambered cairn on Rousay, the only double-decker tomb in Orkney: lower passage (4 m) to sub-rectangular chamber, upper passage to separate cruciform chamber above, plus small third side-chamber. Built c.3000 BCE within 15 m round cairn, later overlain by Iron Age broch reuse. Excavated 1937 by Grant, yielding human, animal bones and pottery. Shows architectural experimentation at peak of Orkney Neolithic tomb building.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why vertical stacking unique in Orkney?
Theories
- 01Territory shortage forced vertical expansion on Rousay
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 3000 BCE
- Period
- Late Neolithic
- Culture
- Grooved Ware / Maeshowe tradition
- Purpose
- Two-storey collective tomb (stacked chambers)
- Abandoned
- Iron Age reused as broch midden
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1937 (Walter G. Grant)
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 3000 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1247 CE
Abandonment
On the ground
Structures & features
59.1667° N · 3.0167° W · 35 m · 2 mapped features
Upper cruciform chamber
chamberUpper level cruciform chamber with separate passage
59.1667° N · 3.0167° WLower sub-rectangular chamber
chamberLower chamber with passage to north
59.1666° N · 3.0167° W