Although things might be a little different on your visit, you can still enjoy exploring Unstan Chambered Cairn.
Find out more about this historic place below.
Journey inside
Explore Unstan Chambered Cairn with our short video tour.
Excavated in 1884 by Robert Clouston, Knowe of Unstan contained crouched burials and a mass of mixed bone, plus animal remains, and sherds from over 30 round-based bowls. This distinctive style of pottery came to be known as Unstan Ware.
The mound is entered via the original (re-roofed) entrance passage, leading to a central chamber divided into ‘stalls’ by four pairs of upright stones. This type of drystone structure is classified as an ‘Orkney-Cromarty’ cairn, but unusually for this group, Unstan has a side cell within the wall opposite its entrance.
Explore the history
Unstan is one of an abundance of burial monuments in Orkney, dating from about 5,000 years ago.
Two main kinds of Neolithic burial monument are found in Orkney, stalled cairns, where rectangular chambers are divided into stalls by upright stone slabs, and ‘Maeshowe type’ tombs, where a high central chamber has small cells opening off it.
Unstan displays characteristics of both. Its rectangular central chamber is entered from the east via a narrow passage and is divided into five stalls by upright stone slabs. Unlike most stalled cairns, a small cell leads off from the central stall.