Beta Help us improve: share your feedback on our new website.

View gallery

Explore a Neolithic round chambered cairn, known for its ‘Unstan Ware’ pottery.

Unstan Chambered Cairn was probably built about 5,000 years ago as a communal burial place. It’s an unusual example of a stalled cairn, with internal divisions or stalls, and a single side cell.

Excavations here uncovered a remarkable collection of pottery bowls, all of the same design. Similar bowls were subsequently found in several other Neolithic tombs in Orkney, and are known as Unstan Ware.

A narrow entrance passageway cut into the side of a large, grassy mound
A chamber lined with drystone walls, with several slabs of stone positioned upright within the room
A large, grassy mound, fully fenced off, in the middle of a grassy field
A close-up shot if a wall in a chambered cairn. Flat, lichen-covered stones have been stacked on top of each other to create an ancient-looking but clearly very sturdy structure.

Discover more with the Orkney Digital Guide

Enhance your visit with videos, stories and 3D scans to help you uncover nearly 5,000 years of Orkney’s past.
Buy the Orkney Digital Guide

Ready for an adventure?

Use a Membership or Explorer Pass to discover centuries of Scottish history and heritage, all while saving money and supporting our work.

Membership

Ideal for regular visitors and heritage supporters

Unlimited annual pass for all ticketed sites plus daytime events

Two adults, holding hands with two young children, walk through a graveyard, with historical stone ruins in the background. It is a sunny day.
  • Unlimited annual pass for all ticketed sites plus daytime events
  • Discount in our shops and cafés (on site and online)
  • Historic Scotland magazine delivered to your door
  • Free or discounted entry to sites in England, Wales and the Isle of Man

Explorer Pass

Perfect for short-term trips and sightseeing

Valid for 14 consecutive days

A family walking across a grassy lawn with the New Abbey Corn Mill building in the background.
  • Valid for 14 consecutive days
  • Entry to all ticketed sites, including Edinburgh Castle, Stirling Castle and Urquhart Castle
  • 20% discount on audio guides at Edinburgh Castle, Stirling Castle and Glasgow Cathedral
  • Guaranteed entry when you pre-book online