The Dwarfie Stane, Hoy

Taken from Wikipedia: The Dwarfie Stane is a megalithic chambered tomb carved out of a titanic block of Devonian Old Red Sandstone. It is located in a steep-sided glaciated valley between the settlements of Quoys and Rackwick on Hoy, The stone is a glacial erratic located in desolate peatland. The attribution as a tomb was originally based on its resemblance to recognized tombs in southern Europe. The Dwarfie Stane is the only chambered tomb in Orkney that is cut from stone rather than built from stones and may be the only example of a Neolithic rock-cut tomb in Britain. A stone slab originally blocked the entrance to the tomb on its west side, but now lies on the ground in front of it. It is unique in northern Europe, bearing similarity to Neolithic or Bronze Age tombs around the Mediterranean. Inside the tomb is a rock cut passage and two cells resembling bed platforms, each too small for anyone of human stature, hence the association with a dwarf in its name. Orcadian tradition confusingly also associates the stone with a giant. Over the centuries, despite its remoteness, the tomb has been a place on the well-bred traveller's itinerary, including Sir Walter Scott, who featured the site in his novel 'The Pirate'. William Mounsey famously left graffiti here in 1850 written in Persian.

隨機精選照片