Maeshowe (or
Maes Howe) is a
NeolithicThe Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BCE in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age...
chambered cairnA chambered cairn is a burial monument, usually constructed during the Neolithic, consisting of a cairn of stones inside which a sizeable chamber was constructed. Some chambered cairns are also passage-graves....
and
passage gravethumb|250px|right|A simple passage tomb in [[Carrowmore]] near [[Sligo]] in IrelandA passage grave or passage tomb consists of a narrow passage made of large stones and one or multiple burial chambers covered in earth or stone. Megaliths are usually used in the construction of passage tombs, which...
situated on Mainland, Orkney,
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The monuments around Maeshowe, including
Skara BraeSkara Brae is a large stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. It consists of ten clustered houses, and was occupied from roughly 3100-2500 BC...
, were designated a
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945...
World Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list that is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term.A World Heritage Site is a...
in 1999. It gives its name to the Maeshowe type of chambered cairn, which is limited to Orkney. However, Maeshowe is very similar to the famous
NewgrangeNewgrange is a passage tomb of the Brú na Bóinne complex in County Louth. It is one of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world, and indeed the most famous of all Irish prehistoric sites...
tomb in
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
, suggesting a linkage between the two cultures. Maeshowe is a magnificent example of Neolithic craftsmanship and is, in the words of the distinguished archaeologist
Stuart PiggottStuart Ernest Piggott CBE was a British archaeologist most well known for his work on prehistoric Wessex....
:
a superlative monument that by its originality of execution is lifted out of its class into a unique position..
Maeshowe appears as a grassy mound rising from a flat plain near the south-east end of the
LochA loch is a body of water which is either:* a lake or;...
of
HarrayHarray is a former parish on Mainland, Orkney, now merged with Birsay. It has the unique distinction of being the only landlocked parish on the islands, although it too has a shoreline of sorts - along the freshwater Loch of Harray.Harray was merged with Birsay to form a united parish in the north...
. Maeshowe is one of the largest tombs in Orkney; the mound encasing the tomb is in diameter and rises to a height of . Surrounding the mound, at a distance of to is a ditch up to wide. The grass mound hides a complex of passages and chambers built of carefully crafted slabs of
flagstoneFlagstone, or flag, is a type of flat stone, usually used for paving slabs, but also for making fences or roofing. It may also be used for making memorials or headstones in a cemetery...
weighing up to 30 tons. It is aligned so that the rear wall of its central chamber held up by a bracketed wall, is illuminated on the
winter solsticeWinter solstice may refer to:* Winter solstice, astronomical event* Winter Solstice , former band* Winter Solstice: North , seasonal songs* Winter Solstice , 2005 American film...
. A similar display occurs in
NewgrangeNewgrange is a passage tomb of the Brú na Bóinne complex in County Louth. It is one of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world, and indeed the most famous of all Irish prehistoric sites...
. This entrance passage is long and leads to the central chamber measuring . The current height of the chamber is , this reflects the height to which the original stonework is preserved and capped by a modern corbelled roof. The original roof may have risen to a height of or more.
The entrance passage is only about high, requiring visitors to stoop or crawl into the central chamber. That chamber is constructed largely of flat slabs of stone, many of which traverse nearly the entire length of the walls. In each corner lie huge angled buttresses that rise to the vaulting. At a height of about , the walls construction changes from the use of flat to overlappng slabs creating a beehive-shaped vault.
The "modern" opening of the tomb was by James Farrer, an antiquarian and the
Member of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
for
DurhamDurham is a city in the North East of England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county....
, in July of 1861. Farrer, like many antiquarians of the day, was not noted for his careful excavation of sites. John Hedges describes him as possessing "a rapacious appetite for excavation matched only by his crude techniques, lack of inspiration, and general inability to publish." Farrer and his workmen broke through the roof of the entrance passage and found it filled with debris. He then turned his attention to the top of the mound, broke through and, over a period of a few days, emptied the main chamber of material that had filled it completely. He and his workmen discovered the famous runic inscriptions carved on the walls, proof that Norsemen had broken into the tomb at least six centuries earlier. As described in the
Orkneyinga SagaThe Orkneyinga saga is a unique historical narrative of the history of the Orkney Islands, Scotland, from their capture by the Norwegian king in the ninth century onwards until about 1200....
, Maeshowe was looted by the famous Vikings
Earl Harald MaddadarsonHarald Maddadsson was Earl of Orkney and Mormaer of Caithness from 1139 until 1206. He was the son of Matad, Mormaer of Atholl, and Margaret, daughter of Earl Haakon Paulsson of Orkney...
and Ragnvald, Earl of Møre in about the 12th century. The more than thirty
runicThe runic alphabets are a set of related alphabets using letters known as runes to write various Germanic languages prior to the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter...
inscriptions on the walls of the chamber represent the largest single collection of such carvings in the world.
200px
Estimates of the amount of effort required to build Maeshowe vary; a commonly suggested number is 39,000 man-hours, although Colin Renfrew calculated that at least 100,000 hours would be required. Dating of the construction of Maeshowe is difficult but dates derived from burials in similar tombs cluster around 3000 BC. Since Maeshowe is the largest and most sophisticated example of the Maeshowe "type" of tomb, archaeologists have suggested that it's the last of its class- built around 2800 BC. The people who built Maeshowe were users of
grooved wareGrooved ware is the name given to a pottery style of the British Neolithic. Its manufacturers are sometimes known as the Grooved ware people. Unlike the later Beaker ware, Grooved culture was not an import from the continent but seems to have developed in Orkney, early in the 3rd millennium BC, but...
, a distinctive type of pottery that spread throughout the British Isles from about 3000 BC. The land around Maeshowe at its construction probably looked much as it does today- treeless with grasses representative of Pollen Assemblage Zone MNH-I reflecting "mixed agricultural practices, probably with a pastoral bias- there is a substantial amount of ribwort pollen, but also that of cereals.".
A Neolithic "low road" connects Maeshowe with the magnificiently preserved village of
Skara BraeSkara Brae is a large stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. It consists of ten clustered houses, and was occupied from roughly 3100-2500 BC...
, passing near the Standing Stones of Stenness and the
Ring of BrodgarThe Ring of Brodgar is a Neolithic henge and stone circle on the Mainland, the largest island in Orkney, Scotland...
. Low roads connect Neolithic ceremonial sites throughout Britain. Some archeologists believe that Maeshowe was originally surrounded by a large stone circle. The complex including Maeshowe, the Ring of Brodgar, the Standing Stones of Stenness, Skara Brae, as well as other tombs and standing stones represents a concentration of Neolithic sites that is rivalled in Britain only by the complexes associated with
StonehengeStonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of earthworks surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones and sits at the centre of the...
and
AveburyAvebury is the site of a large henge and several stone circles surrounding the village of Avebury in the English county of Wiltshire. It is one of the finest and largest Neolithic monuments in Europe, about 5,000 years old. Although older than the megalithic stages of Stonehenge to the south, the...
.
Chambered tombs of the Maeshowe "type" are characterized by a long, low entrance passageway leading to a square or rectangular chamber from which there is access to a number of side cells. Although there are disagreements as to the attribution of tombs to tomb types, there are only seven definitely known Maeshowe type tombs. On Mainland, there are, in addition to Maeshowe; the tombs of Cuween, Wideford Hill, and Quanterness. The tomb of Quoyness is found on Sanday, while Vinquoy Hill is located on
EdayEday is one of the Orkney Islands, which are located to the north of the Scottish mainland in the United Kingdom. Eday is located in the North Isles of Orkney, and is about north of the main island of Orkney Mainland...
. Finally, there is an unnamed tomb on the
Holm of Papa WestrayThe Holm of Papa or Holm of Papay, known locally as the Papay Holm, is a very small uninhabited island in the Orkney islands. It is around 15 ha in size...
. Anna Ritchie reports that there are three more Maeshowe type tombs in Orkney but she doesn't name or locate them.
Toponymy
The origin of the name
Maeshowe is uncertain. While the second element is certainly from the Old Norse
haugr usually meaning a mound, there have been several different theories postulated for the first element,
maes.
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These include:
- Celtic origins. The Welsh word 'Maes' meaning 'field' or 'area of activity'; it is typical for 'maes' to be followed by an adjective, such as 'fair field', 'Maes teg'. 'Maeshowe' might then mean 'the burial mound field', or 'the area around the cairn'. Due to the rarity of surviving pre-Norse elements in Orcadian placenames, this theory does not enjoy much support.
- A personal name. 'Maeshowe' could simply be a corruption of 'Tormis' Howe', meaning it was the burial mound of someone called Tormis. Some other cairns in the area do seem to be named after individuals, and 'Tormiston' is immediately adjacent to the tomb.
- Old Norse for 'The Maiden's Tomb'? This would be meyjarhaugr or maerhaugr.
- Old Norse for 'The Great Tomb'? This would be mestrhaugr. Interestingly, Maeshowe is called Orkahaugr in the Orkneyinga Saga
The Orkneyinga saga is a unique historical narrative of the history of the Orkney Islands, Scotland, from their capture by the Norwegian king in the ninth century onwards until about 1200....
. The first element of that name, orka, signifies power or greatness.
World Heritage status
‘The
Heart of Neolithic OrkneyHeart of Neolithic Orkney refers to a group of Neolithic monuments found on the Mainland, one of the islands of Orkney, Scotland. The name was adopted by UNESCO when it proclaimed these sites as a World Heritage Site in 1999....
’ was inscribed as a World Heritage site in December 1999. In addition to Maeshowe, the site includes
Skara BraeSkara Brae is a large stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. It consists of ten clustered houses, and was occupied from roughly 3100-2500 BC...
, the Standing Stones of Stenness, the
Ring of BrodgarThe Ring of Brodgar is a Neolithic henge and stone circle on the Mainland, the largest island in Orkney, Scotland...
and other nearby sites. It is managed by
Historic ScotlandHistoric Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for historic monuments in Scotland.Its website states:It has direct responsibility for maintaining and running over 360 monuments in its care, about a quarter of which are manned and charge admission entry...
, whose 'Statement of Significance' for the site begins:
The monuments at the heart of Neolithic Orkney and Skara Brae proclaim the triumphs of the human spirit in early ages and isolated places. They were approximately contemporary with the mastabas of the archaic period of Egypt (first and second dynasties), the brick temples of Sumeria, and the first cities of the Harappa culture in India, and a century or two earlier than the Golden Age of China. Unusually fine for their early date, and with a remarkably rich survival of evidence, these sites stand as a visible symbol of the achievements of early peoples away from the traditional centres of civilisation...Maes Howe is a masterpiece of Neolithic peoples. It is an exceptionally early architectural accomplishment. With its almost classical strength and simplicity it is a unique survival from 5000 years ago. It is an expression of genius within a group of people whose other tombs were claustrophobic chambers in smaller mounds.
See also
- Newgrange
Newgrange is a passage tomb of the Brú na Bóinne complex in County Louth. It is one of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world, and indeed the most famous of all Irish prehistoric sites...
, another winter-solstice-aligned passage tomb
- Ring of Brodgar
The Ring of Brodgar is a Neolithic henge and stone circle on the Mainland, the largest island in Orkney, Scotland...
- Skara Brae
Skara Brae is a large stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. It consists of ten clustered houses, and was occupied from roughly 3100-2500 BC...
- Standing Stones of Stenness
- The Stone Lud
- Heart of Neolithic Orkney
Heart of Neolithic Orkney refers to a group of Neolithic monuments found on the Mainland, one of the islands of Orkney, Scotland. The name was adopted by UNESCO when it proclaimed these sites as a World Heritage Site in 1999....
- Prehistoric Orkney
Prehistoric Orkney refers to a period in the human occupation of the Orkney archipelago of Scotland that was the latter part of these islands' prehistory. The period of prehistory prior to occupation by the genus Homo is part of the geology of Scotland...
- List of megalithic sites
- List of archaeoastronomical sites by country
External links