Maeshowe is a Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave situated on Mainland Orkney, Scotland. It was probably built around 2800 BC. In the archaeology of Scotland, it gives its name to the Maeshowe type of chambered cairn, which is limited to Orkney.
Maeshowe
Maeshowe Entrance
Maeshowe soon after opening in 1861
Maes Howe interior in 2012
A chambered cairn is a burial monument, usually constructed during the Neolithic, consisting of a sizeable chamber around and over which a cairn of stones was constructed. Some chambered cairns are also passage-graves. They are found throughout Britain and Ireland, with the largest number in Scotland.
Cairn Holy I., Galloway
Cairnholy II – a chambered cairn near Newton Stewart.
Entrance to Unstan Chambered Cairn, Orkney
The interior of Maeshowe