Description

The monument is an Orkney-Cromarty type of stalled cairn known as the Knowe of Ramsay, dating from the Neolithic period (between 3500 and 2500 BC). It survives as a low turf-covered mound, with a hollow in the centre in which a number of flagstones are visible. The flagstones are likely to represent the chamber walls of individual compartments recorded in previous investigations. Sections of the outer wall-face can be traced intermittently around the edge of the mound. The cairn is particularly long and narrow, with fourteen recorded compartments. The mound is orientated NW-SE and measures approximately 35m in length by 14m in width (maximum) and stands up to 1.2m high. The NW end of the mound is rounded, while the SE end, where the entrance passage is located, is straight. The monument is situated on the edge of a natural terrace at 60m above sea level, with wide views in all directions, but particularly to the S and SE. The monument was originally scheduled in 1935, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

The scheduled area is irregular on plan and 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.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a substantial example of a chambered cairn which has the inherent potential to make a significant contribution to our understanding of the past, particularly the design and construction of burial monuments, and the nature of belief systems and burial practices in Neolithic Orkney. There is high potential for the survival of important archaeological deposits and features within, around and beneath the cairn, which can add to our understanding of the nature of burial practices, how the monument was used and its significance. In Orkney, and in Rousay in particular, chambered cairns are an important component of the wider prehistoric landscape. They are often focal points and can inform our understanding of prehistoric land-use and social organisation. The Knowe of Ramsay is of particular significance as one of a concentrated group of chambered tombs on Rousay. It is also notable as one of the longest and largest examples of a stalled cairn in Orkney. The loss of the monument would significantly diminish our 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

Other information

RCAHMS records the site as HY42NW 22.

References

Callander, J Graham 1935-36, 'A stalled chambered cairn, the Knowe of Ramsay, at Hullion, Rousay, Orkney', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 70, 407-19.

Davidson, J L and Henshall, A S 1989, The chambered cairns of Orkney: an inventory of the structures and their contents, Edinburgh, 135-6.

Henshall, A S 1963, The chambered tombs of Scotland, Edinburgh, vol 1, 212.

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, 214-6, no 576.

RCAHMS (1982) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre, Orkney Islands Area, The archaeological sites and monuments of Scotland series no 16, Edinburgh, 15, no 9.

Renfrew, A C 1979, Investigations in Orkney, Society of Antiquaries of London, Research Report 38, London, 4, 14, 72, 114, 160, 168, 201, 205-6, 210.

Renfrew, C, Harkness, D and Switsur, R 1976, 'Quanterness, radiocarbon and the Orkney cairns', Antiquity 50, 194-204.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland