Maeshowe barrow

mound, Mainland, Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom
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Maeshowe barrow, prehistoric chambered mound located northeast of Stromness on Mainland (or Pomona) in the Orkney Islands, Scotland. The mound, probably built as a tomb for a chieftain family, was in the shape of a blunted cone, 300 feet (91 meters) in circumference, and was encircled by a moat about 90 feet (27 meters) from its base. The mound was probably entered from the west by a passage leading to a central apartment, the walls of which ended in a beehive roof. Maeshowe barrow has also been attributed to 10th-century Norsemen; more plausibly, a band of Norsemen at one time may have used the mound for shelter, cutting a runic record of their visit on the stones and at the same time robbing the tomb of its possessions.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.