Scheduled MonumentsScotlandQuoyness,chambered cairn,Els Ness,Sanday
Neolithic · Chambered cairn,els ness,sanday

Quoyness,chambered cairn,Els Ness,Sanday

Scotland
HES SM90243
Period
Neolithic
Site type
Chambered cairn,els ness,sanday
Nation
Scotland
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic Environment Scotland

Overview

History & significance

Quoyness is a Neolithic chambered cairn situated on the Ness of Quoyness, Sanday, Orkney. Dating to the fourth millennium BC, it represents one of the most substantial examples of a stalled cairn in the Northern Isles, with a long stone-built chamber subdivided by projecting orthostats into distinct compartments. The monument consists of a roughly circular mound of stones covering the internal passage grave arrangement, which was constructed to serve communal burial purposes during the Neolithic period. Archaeological investigation has recovered pottery and human remains, confirming its significance as a burial monument and providing evidence for the mortuary practices and settlement patterns of Orkney's earliest farming communities.

Quoyness,chambered cairn,Els Ness,Sanday is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM90243. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Quoyness,chambered cairn,Els Ness,Sanday?

Quoyness is a Neolithic chambered cairn situated on the Ness of Quoyness, Sanday, Orkney. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM90243.

What period does Quoyness,chambered cairn,Els Ness,Sanday date from?

Quoyness,chambered cairn,Els Ness,Sanday dates from the neolithic period, and is classified as a chambered cairn,els ness,sanday. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.

Who is responsible for protecting Quoyness,chambered cairn,Els Ness,Sanday?

Quoyness,chambered cairn,Els Ness,Sanday 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 SM90243.

What other scheduled monuments are near Quoyness,chambered cairn,Els Ness,Sanday?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Augmond Howe cairn and cairn-derived bank, 800m SSE of Els Ness (0.3 km), Sivers Geo,mounds,Els Ness (0.5 km), Backaskaill Bay,Cross Parish Church (2.7 km).

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Everything a full report reveals about Quoyness,chambered cairn,Els Ness,Sanday

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Quoyness,chambered cairn,Els Ness,Sanday's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Stat Accounts
The parish Statistical Accounts of the 1790s and 1830s, describing life, work and population here.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Quoyness,chambered cairn,Els Ness,Sanday

Quoyness,chambered cairn,Els Ness,Sanday stands on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.