Description

The monument is a burial cairn dating probably to the Bronze Age (between about 2000 and 800 BC), or possibly earlier. It survives as a low circular mound or platform, approximately 12m in diameter. In the centre an arrangement of upright stones represents the remains of a small chamber, aligned roughly N-S. The chamber measures 2.5m by 1m and the tallest stones stand up to 1m high. There seems to have been an entrance or opening on the S side. The cairn was partly excavated in 1932 by Walter Grant, who uncovered a short cist at the N end of the chamber. An arc of smaller edge-set stones to the S of the chamber is likely to be the remains of a kerb. The monument is situated on a natural terrace around 30m above sea level, overlooking agricultural land and Wyre Sound to the S. The monument was originally scheduled in 1935, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

The scheduled area is a circle on plan, 25m in diameter, centred on the centre of the monument. The scheduling includes the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduling specifically excludes the above-ground elements of a post-and-wire fence.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a burial cairn with the inherent potential to make a significant contribution towards our understanding of the past, particularly the design and construction of prehistoric burial monuments, and the changing nature of belief systems and burial practices in Bronze Age Orkney. Ritual and funerary monuments are often our main source of evidence for human activity during early prehistory in Scotland, and monuments such as this are important for enhancing our understanding of prehistoric society, its organisation, economy, religion and demography. This is a particularly interesting example because, unlike many other Bronze Age burials in Orkney, it contains a central arrangement of upright stones, the probable chamber, associated with at least one cist burial. Although partly excavated in the past, the burial cairn is clearly visible and its surviving structural elements allow us to appreciate and analyse its form and its position in the landscape. The loss of the monument would significantly diminish our future ability to appreciate and understand the meaning and importance of death and burial in prehistoric times and the placing of such monuments within the landscape.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the site as HY42NW 16.

References

Downes, J 1995, 'Linga Fold', Current Archaeology 142, 396-399.

RCAHMS 1946, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Twelfth report with an inventory of the ancient monuments of Orkney and Shetland, 3v, Edinburgh, 210, no 572.

Ritchie, A 1996, Orkney, Exploring Scotland's Heritage series, Edinburgh.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland