Midhowe Chambered Cairn

[1] The broch got its name from the fact that it is the middle of three such structures that lie grouped within 500 metres (1,600 ft) of each other and Howe from the Old Norse word haugr meaning mound or barrow.

[2] Together, the broch and chambered cairn form part of a large complex of ancient structures on the shore of Eynhallow Sound separating Rousay from Mainland, Orkney.

[5] In Orkney, the tombs became more elaborate; Midhowe is an extreme example of the form with twelve chambers flanking a passageway 23.6 metres (77 ft) in length.

The stalls or bays on the north side of the chamber were fitted with low stone benches or shelves on which the bones of ancestors were laid out.

[12] Unstan, where the style of pottery was first found in 1884, is a fine example of a stalled chambered tomb, encased like Midhowe in a circular barrow.

[13] These include the so-called Tomb of the Eagles at Isbister on South Ronaldsay, and Taversoe Tuick and Knowe of Yarso on Rousay.

Extension of the curvature of the surviving "horns" of the structure suggests an original diameter of as much as 70 metres (230 ft), indicating a ceremonial space capable of holding hundreds of people.