Maes Howe

Maes Howe, also Maeshowe written, one is in the Neolithic period ( about 3000 BC) built megalithic site on the Scottish island of Orkney Mainland and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site The Heart of Neolithic Orkney.

Location and Function

Maes Howe is on Mainland of the main island of Orkney, about ten kilometers west of the capital of Kirkwall, midway between the Loch of Harray (lake) and the Tormiston Mill ( the information center ) on the A965 road.

The passage tomb located on a carefully hewn out of the bedrock round - oval platform that is enclosed like a Henges of ditch and rampart. Maes Howe was eponymous for occurring only in the Orkney megalithic sites from Maeshowe type. The Chamber of Maeshowe is geared towards the sunset on the day of the winter solstice. The response curve (horizontal crease ) may have been corrected in the course of construction.

Excavations

The modern opening of the Maeshowe tumulus in 1861 by James Farrer. He brought about the removal of debris and the first version of the runic inscriptions. The excavations of Vere Gordon Childe in the 1950s, which were mainly to maintain the building fabric and the hill, confirmed that the hill above the chamber is not like many northern Scottish Cairns common and of a mighty stone packing of pebbles but predominantly from clay peat with scattered rubble existed. In the 1970s, Colin Renfrew conducted several excavations, which were aimed to gain from the area of ​​the flattened disk and from the trenches datable material. 2003 involved extensive technical studies, in particular, to get the Schwitzwasserproblem under control. Here, the interior was measured by photogrammetry; the results are not yet fully published.

Construction

The chamber construction is of great precision. The facility is built from platy layered sandstones and has inwardly relative flat walls. An approximately 11 m long, low, square opening leads into the main chamber with the three side chambers. The entrances to the side chambers are not at ground level, but are less than one meter above recessed into the walls. They could be closed by the stone blocks that are located on the chamber floor in front of the niches.

Were installed throughout sandstones of the region, which were broken along natural weathering lines. The exact position of the layer packages suggests that the surface of individual plates were reworked to make them stack with narrow joints as possible as dry masonry can. Concrete machining marks but were not previously identified. The four incorporated into the cornerstones of the main chamber stones and two more in the passage ( as a wall in the west wall, as a capstone ) are among the largest individual stones that were installed in Scottish megalithic sites. The high main chamber was closed by a corbelled (now concrete ceiling ), while the niches have flat ceilings.

Access is aligned to the point when the sun sets on the day of the winter solstice. The output of the access passage is found a niche in the closure of the stone could be pushed at the opening ( where he permanently is today). When closed, a light gap remained free, so that the rays of the sun at sunset (similar to Newgrange by the so-called roof box) could fall into the chamber and the exact niche in the wall opposite the entrance met.

Dating

For the grave itself are no 14C data. The recovered at Renfrews excavations in the 1970s material from the external equipment has times between 3930 BC / - 110 ( Lab.Nr. SRR 791 from the northern grave section) and about 2110 BC ± 110 ( Lab. No. SRR 504 from the southern grave cut). After evaluating the exact Fund positions, storage conditions and other 14C dates and their find positions as well as in comparison with baustrukturellen findings in other tombs of the type he concludes that the plant was built between 3200-2900 BC.

The runic inscriptions

The runic inscriptions in Maes Howe, the Crusaders emerged mainly in connection with the traditional in the Orkney Inga Saga incidence of a group about 1134-35, are from a number of aspects of meaning:

• It is the largest concentration of runic inscriptions in situ that have been found so far.
• Your messages go far beyond the usual formulaic notes.
• They represent all three known runic spellings: default font, branch runes ( twig runes ) and the tree-like style ( tree runes ); deciphering the latter was through this Fund would not be possible.
• They show the close cultural and historical ties in the North Atlantic region on the one hand, they demonstrate - albeit in a seemingly unimportant detail - how exactly may be the traditions of the saga literature and throw the other hand, a completely new light on the position of women in that time (eg, the versed at runes, also written Lifolf as a member of the Crusaders group).

It is interesting to note that the early Norwegian settlers in Orkney Maeshowe as " Orkahaugr " ( hill of the Orcs ) designated, which may be due to the proper name / tribal names of the residents.