Unstan Chambered Cairn
Unstan cairn
Early Neolithic·Unstan Ware Neolithic·🇬🇧 Orkney, Mainland, Scotland, United Kingdom
About
About Unstan Chambered Cairn
Stalled cairn on lochside at Stenness, type-site for Unstan Ware pottery. Oblong mound 27 m long containing 8.4 m long chamber divided by transverse slabs into five compartments plus side cell, with 6 m passage. Built c.3400 BCE, yielded crouched burials and distinctive round-bottomed Unstan bowls (first recognition of Neolithic ceramic tradition). Excavated by Clouston (1884) and Callander. Now roofed for preservation.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Relation between Unstan and Grooved Ware traditions
Theories
- 01Transitional monument between Orkney-Cromarty and Maeshowe types
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. 3400 BCE
- Period
- Early Neolithic
- Culture
- Unstan Ware Neolithic
- Purpose
- Collective tomb and ceramic type-site
- Abandoned
- Late Neolithic
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1884
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 3400 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1316 CE
Abandonment
On the ground
Structures & features
58.9861° N · 3.2511° W · 10 m · 2 mapped features
Five-compartment chamber
chamber8.4 m stalled chamber with side cell
58.9861° N · 3.2511° WEntrance passage
passage6 m passage facing south
58.9860° N · 3.2512° W
Gallery