Although things might be a little different on your visit, you can still enjoy exploring Midhowe Cairn.
Find out more about this historic place below.
Journey inside
Explore Midhowe Chambered Cairn with our short video tour.
The stalled chambered cairn of Mid Howe is an impressive example of a type of drystone monument known as an ‘Orkney-Cromarty’ cairn. Its entrance passage leads to a long central chamber, divided by pairs of upright stone slabs into 12 ‘stalls’.
It was excavated in 1932-3 by Callander and Grant, who found the remains of at least 25 human skeletons, plus stone tools, pottery, and animal bone. In the mid-1930s it was enclosed by a protective stone-built hangar, allowing the whole cairn to be appreciated. The outer layer of decorative stonework has been arranged in a herringbone pattern.
Explore the history
Midhowe is by far the largest of the tombs on Rousay. In shape and internal layout, the cairn is similar to some Neolithic houses, such as Knap of Howar on Papa Westray.
Evidence from Midhowe gives us a window into Neolithic burial practice. It seems the dead were first buried in a crouched position on the shelves of the tomb, allowed to decompose to bones, and then rearranged.
These were not sealed sepulchres, where the dead could rest in peace, but were frequented by the living. The living certainly visited them for new internments, and possibly during important festivals.