For #TombTuesday here's the Modern Antiquarian himself at the massive Duggleby Howe Neolithic round barrow (38m diam, 6m high) on 28 October 1996, and the site as visited this month. An important series of Middle Neolithic burials were covered by the mound, which was enlarged in the Late Neolithic.
![Photo of Julian Cope at Duggleby from 'The Modern Antiquarian'. The text reads: "NOTES ON DUGGLEBY HOWE: 28TH OCTOBER [I2TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY] 1996 CE
Splash, splash, splash ... unseen clouds are dropping rain on me on this ... windy Duggleby Howe afternoon. The sun is blasting me from the west and my book got dripped upon, yet saved by my umbrella. Duggleby Howe is a remarkable place, an unchambered Maeshowe which has suffered at the hands of the agriculture which it was built to celebrate. Imagine the great Duggleby Howe surrounded by its great circular ring and ditch, the sacred whole swallowed by fields of ripening crops. Duggleby Howe was placed so cleverly that it gives the horizon a level view for all 360 [degrees] and the Silbury effect was clearly well-engineered and important. From all views, especially quite distant ones, Duggleby Howe stands proud of its surroundings, a regal agricultural monument."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7ggib3rrlsl4bi5pcrna6o42/bafkreibrhuwcmqc7muevkuz3cf57pbo7ienrq3caearog54f6g2ytyrrci@jpeg)
October 28, 2025 at 11:18 AM
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I very much enjoyed this one little corner where several inscriptions mention a great treasure.
October 21, 2025 at 5:33 PM
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One favourite among runologists is this inscription with ciphered runes mentioning a carver “most rune-skilled west of the sea” kulturarvsdata.se/uu/srdb/9cfa...
October 21, 2025 at 5:29 PM
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Orkney #runes. The way to the runic treasure chamber of Maeshowe.
October 21, 2025 at 5:29 PM
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The entrance to Wideford Hill Chambered Cairn, with its three concentric stone walls. Dating from around 3500-2400 BC, the ‘Maeshowe-type’ cairn is built into the side of Wideford Hill, near Kirkwall in Orkney. 📸 My own #TombTuesday #Prehistory #Orkney
October 14, 2025 at 6:35 AM
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That’s actually graffiti in Maeshowe on Orkney; it says: “Tholfir Kolbeinsson carved these runes high up"
web.archive.org/web/20230805...
web.archive.org/web/20230805...
Maeshowe's Runes - Viking Graffiti
web.archive.org
October 11, 2025 at 3:36 PM
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Ah hah hah! The story of vikings sheltering in Orkahaugr [Maeshowe] with two of them supposedly going insane. In modern times, hiding place for kids. 😂
October 7, 2025 at 10:01 PM
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Så vidt jeg husker er det en runeinnskrift inne i Maeshowe, Mainland Orkney:
"Ragnhild er den fagreste av alle kvinner".
Men dette er nødvendigvis 1000 år siden, +/-, og påvirker neppe norske navnetradisjoner i dag.
"Ragnhild er den fagreste av alle kvinner".
Men dette er nødvendigvis 1000 år siden, +/-, og påvirker neppe norske navnetradisjoner i dag.
September 29, 2025 at 1:33 PM
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And now for something completely different:
September 17, 2025 at 5:03 PM
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Dansk omtale av stedet med runeinnskriften om øksen til Gauk Trandilsson, han fra sør på Island. Maeshowe på Mainland, Orknøyene.
Har vært innom, og inne, et par ganger selv. Første gang tidlig åttitall.
www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/fagligt/e-la...
Har vært innom, og inne, et par ganger selv. Første gang tidlig åttitall.
www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/fagligt/e-la...
Maes Howe Gravhøj
Vikingernes togter tog dem vidt og bredt rundt i Vesteuropa og de efterlod deres spor. Læs mere om Maes Howe Gravhøj i Skotland.
www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk
September 14, 2025 at 6:10 AM
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...mbs of Neolithic Orkney (Skara Brae, Maeshowe) and the long barrows scattered across the British Isles. These structures, often aligned with celestial events, show a consistent cultural pattern and a shared understanding of the cosmos and the afterlife. They buried their dead with grave goods ...
September 11, 2025 at 12:00 AM
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Nick, and Anne will be discussing all thing Ness of Brodgar in the Maeshowe visitor centre tomorrow, Thursday, September 11, as part of the first Orkney #Archaeology Festival.
www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/oaf-2025/
www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/oaf-2025/
Chat with Nick and Anne tomorrow at Orkney Archaeology Festival event
Nick, and Anne will be discussing all thing Ness of Brodgar in the Maeshowe visitor centre tomorrow, as part of the first Orkney Archaeology Festival.
www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk
September 10, 2025 at 11:37 AM
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This week we take a look at (Mount) Maesry - a suspected Maeshowe-type chambered cairn on a small tidal island off the north-eastern tip of #Sanday.
#archaeology #Orkney #Neolithic #ChamberedCairn #ChamberedTomb
www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/maesry-sanday/
#archaeology #Orkney #Neolithic #ChamberedCairn #ChamberedTomb
www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/maesry-sanday/
Maesry – another Maeshowe-type chambered cairn in Sanday?
Maesry is a suspected Maeshowe-type chambered cairn on Start Point – a small tidal island off the north-eastern tip of Sanday.
www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk
September 3, 2025 at 3:20 PM
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Maeshowe, Orkney (no photography on the inside but it is full of viking graffiti!!)
September 2, 2025 at 2:46 PM
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Considering that we were worried about finding enough to do today, it’s been a remarkably full and exciting day. Lovely ice cream, then Maeshowe; a lovely lady we met on the tour gave us a lift back to Kirkwall so we didn’t have to rush for the bus. /1
August 31, 2025 at 5:45 PM
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Maeshowe was very special, and our young French tour guide was really good. Adorably, he speaks English with both a French and slightly Orcadian accent.
August 31, 2025 at 1:52 PM
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og hvorfor øksen hans senere var i Maeshowe.
Også fordi dette nevnes Orknøyingesagaen.
Ellers er beskrivelsen av Hallgjerd Hoskuldsdatter i samme saga alltid interessant, rent litterært sett.
Et forferdelig menneske, beskrevet med Hemingwaysk minimalisme, hundrevis av år før Hemingway.
3/3
Også fordi dette nevnes Orknøyingesagaen.
Ellers er beskrivelsen av Hallgjerd Hoskuldsdatter i samme saga alltid interessant, rent litterært sett.
Et forferdelig menneske, beskrevet med Hemingwaysk minimalisme, hundrevis av år før Hemingway.
3/3
August 31, 2025 at 11:13 AM
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Inngående og inngående.
Dette er kun en detalj, men kan kanskje vekke interessen for det norrøne.
I Maeshowe på Orknøyene, det neolittiske gravkammeret, er det godt med runeinnskrifter fra den gang folk tog seg inn dit på 900-1200 tallet,
1/
Dette er kun en detalj, men kan kanskje vekke interessen for det norrøne.
I Maeshowe på Orknøyene, det neolittiske gravkammeret, er det godt med runeinnskrifter fra den gang folk tog seg inn dit på 900-1200 tallet,
1/
August 31, 2025 at 11:08 AM
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The viking graffiti at Maeshowe in Orkney is good for this. Bunch of lads.
August 22, 2025 at 8:18 AM
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I'm lucky enough to have been twice. My faves: of course Maeshowe, Skara Brae, Tomb of the Eagles, the Fossil Musem, Orkney Museum in Kirkwall, Ring of Brodgar...OK, I love the whole place! 😆
August 14, 2025 at 8:02 AM
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Maes Howe: chambered cairn in Orkney Islands.
Historic Environment Scotland scheduled monument SM90209
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maeshowe
Historic Environment Scotland lists 4 notable sites within 1km distance.
#ScottishHistory #orkney
Historic Environment Scotland scheduled monument SM90209
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maeshowe
Historic Environment Scotland lists 4 notable sites within 1km distance.
#ScottishHistory #orkney
Maeshowe - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
August 14, 2025 at 5:05 AM
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#TombTuesday Inside Quoyness Chambered Cairn on the island of Sanday in #Orkney
Built around 3000BC in the Maeshowe style, excavations in 1867 found the skeletal remains of at least 14 people buried in these side-chambers!
📸 Mine
#archaeology #scotland #ancientbritain #photooftheday
Built around 3000BC in the Maeshowe style, excavations in 1867 found the skeletal remains of at least 14 people buried in these side-chambers!
📸 Mine
#archaeology #scotland #ancientbritain #photooftheday
July 29, 2025 at 10:08 AM
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Currently indexing the book (hope to send away on Monday), including crude-worded 12th century graffiti from Maeshowe tomb, #Orkney. I wonder if those vandals (as we'd call them now!) would feel a little immortal knowing their names are listed alongside kings and religious leaders? #medievalsky
July 26, 2025 at 11:17 AM
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Maeshowe Chambered Cairn on Orkney with its ditch and outer bank. A remarkable Neolithic monument, the tomb also contains over 33 Norse runic inscriptions, as well as various sketches and motifs. 📸 My own. #TombTuesday #Prehistory #Orkney
July 1, 2025 at 6:22 AM
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#TombTuesday & its Cuween Chambered Cairn, Orkney
similar in design to Maeshowe but on a smaller scale
as well as human remains, 24 dog skulls we intered there
See more of Orkney in the episode >>>
www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8FD...
similar in design to Maeshowe but on a smaller scale
as well as human remains, 24 dog skulls we intered there
See more of Orkney in the episode >>>
www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8FD...
June 24, 2025 at 8:12 PM
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