Maeshowe is considered the to be one the greatest chambered tombs and architectural achievement in north-west neolithic Europe. It certainly is Orkneys finest chambered cairn and the largest of its type. Dating back over 5000 years and it has stood the test of time with very little settlement or damage.

The chambered tomb sits on a circular platform and is surrounded by a ditch and beyond this a bank. “Howe” Old Norse for hill but the origins of “Maes” is undetermined.

There is no doubt that the tomb was built to impress and the number of hands that would have contributed to this sophisticated build without the aid of any metal tools nor machinery. Perhaps even more impressive is the precision in the execution. This is demonstrated not only in the large slabs being skilfully set together and finished, resulting in a chamber 4.5m square and about the same in height but by the significant alignment of the sunset on the winter solstice with the gentle sloping passageway into the camber. Resulting in the chamber being illuminated, demonstrating that this was designed to mark midwinter which was an important point in the year for Neolithic society.

The Tombs roof is cleverly constructed using intricate overlapping stones slabs that span the length of the tomb. The camber may have originally been higher however it was removed when curious Norse visitors sheltered there in the 1100s resulting in another fascinating aspect of Maeshowe…. Viking graffiti. They left behind around 33 runic inscriptions and 8 sketches. This now forms the largest collection of inscriptions outside of Scandinavia, underpinning the influence the Norwegian rule until 1468 and the and influence they have on Orkney to this day.

Some of the light-hearted runic graffiti include “Eyjolf Kolbeinsson carved these runes high” and the most famous carving is the “Maeshowe Dragon or Lion”.