Archaeologists unearthed the ruins of a 5,000-year-old tomb on one of the Scottish Orkney Islands, National Museums Scotland said in a statement Tuesday.
The “incredibly rare” tomb, which is from the Neolithic era, was largely destroyed without record in the 19th century, according to the museum. Only 12 of such tombs have been found in Orkney. They’re considered “the pinnacle of Neolithic engineering in northern Britain,” the museum said.
The tomb, unearthed after a three-week excavation, has a large stone chamber at the center of a cairn, which is a human-made pile of stones usually raised as a marker for a burial mound. The stone chamber is surrounded by six smaller rooms.
Archaeologists found 14 articulated skeletons of men, women and children in one of the smaller side rooms, according to the museum. Other human remains and artifacts, including pottery, stone tools and a bone pin, were also discovered.
“The preservation of so many human remains in one part of the monument is amazing, especially since the stone has been mostly robbed for building material,” Vicki Cummings, head of Cardiff University’s School of History, Archaeology and Religion, said in a statement.
Archaeologists unearthed the ruins of a 5,000-year-old tomb on one of the Scottish Orkney Islands, National Museums Scotland said in a statement Tuesday.
The “incredibly rare” tomb, which is from the Neolithic era, was largely destroyed without record in the 19th century, according to the museum. Only 12 of such tombs have been found in Orkney. They’re considered “the pinnacle of Neolithic engineering in northern Britain,” the museum said.
The tomb, unearthed after a three-week excavation, has a large stone chamber at the center of a cairn, which is a human-made pile of stones usually raised as a marker for a burial mound. The stone chamber is surrounded by six smaller rooms.
Archaeologists found 14 articulated skeletons of men, women and children in one of the smaller side rooms, according to the museum. Other human remains and artifacts, including pottery, stone tools and a bone pin, were also discovered.
“The preservation of so many human remains in one part of the monument is amazing, especially since the stone has been mostly robbed for building material,” Vicki Cummings, head of Cardiff University’s School of History, Archaeology and Religion, said in a statement.
Archaeologists unearthed the ruins of a 5,000-year-old tomb on one of the Scottish Orkney Islands, National Museums Scotland said in a statement Tuesday.
The “incredibly rare” tomb, which is from the Neolithic era, was largely destroyed without record in the 19th century, according to the museum. Only 12 of such tombs have been found in Orkney. They’re considered “the pinnacle of Neolithic engineering in northern Britain,” the museum said.
The tomb, unearthed after a three-week excavation, has a large stone chamber at the center of a cairn, which is a human-made pile of stones usually raised as a marker for a burial mound. The stone chamber is surrounded by six smaller rooms.
Archaeologists found 14 articulated skeletons of men, women and children in one of the smaller side rooms, according to the museum. Other human remains and artifacts, including pottery, stone tools and a bone pin, were also discovered.
“The preservation of so many human remains in one part of the monument is amazing, especially since the stone has been mostly robbed for building material,” Vicki Cummings, head of Cardiff University’s School of History, Archaeology and Religion, said in a statement.
Archaeologists unearthed the ruins of a 5,000-year-old tomb on one of the Scottish Orkney Islands, National Museums Scotland said in a statement Tuesday.
The “incredibly rare” tomb, which is from the Neolithic era, was largely destroyed without record in the 19th century, according to the museum. Only 12 of such tombs have been found in Orkney. They’re considered “the pinnacle of Neolithic engineering in northern Britain,” the museum said.
The tomb, unearthed after a three-week excavation, has a large stone chamber at the center of a cairn, which is a human-made pile of stones usually raised as a marker for a burial mound. The stone chamber is surrounded by six smaller rooms.
Archaeologists found 14 articulated skeletons of men, women and children in one of the smaller side rooms, according to the museum. Other human remains and artifacts, including pottery, stone tools and a bone pin, were also discovered.
“The preservation of so many human remains in one part of the monument is amazing, especially since the stone has been mostly robbed for building material,” Vicki Cummings, head of Cardiff University’s School of History, Archaeology and Religion, said in a statement.