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Knowe of Onstan is a Neolithic chambered cairn located in Orkney, Scotland, dating to approximately 3500–3000 BCE. The monument consists of a substantial mound covering a stone-built chamber of distinctive Orkney-Mainland type, featuring a central passage leading to a kidney-shaped or oval burial chamber with side cells, a design characteristic of the Unstan ware culture of the Orcadian Neolithic. The cairn represents an important funerary and possibly ceremonial monument of the early farming communities in Orkney, and excavation has yielded pottery and human remains that illuminate patterns of Neolithic burial practice and settlement in the Northern Isles. As a well-preserved example of its class, the site contributes significantly to understanding the development of monumental architecture in prehistoric Scotland.
Knowe of Onston,or Unstan,chambered cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM90232. View the official record →
Knowe of Onstan is a Neolithic chambered cairn located in Orkney, Scotland, dating to approximately 3500–3000 BCE. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM90232.
Knowe of Onston,or Unstan,chambered cairn dates from the neolithic period, and is classified as a or unstan,chambered cairn. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Knowe of Onston,or Unstan,chambered cairn is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM90232.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Ness Battery, coast defence battery, Stromness (5 km), Ness Battery, gun emplacements 300m SSE of, Stromness (5.2 km), Upper Sower, coastal battery N of, Clestrain (5.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Knowe of Onston,or Unstan,chambered cairn's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Knowe of Onston,or Unstan,chambered cairn stands on Middle Devonian sandstone, bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is major:{sandstone}, Minor{siltstone,marl}.