Tomb of the Eagles and Liddle Burnt Mound

Last Friday (9 July) I combined work and pleasure (well, I took my teenagers along with me) and visited the Tomb of the Eagles. The tomb was discovered by farmer, Ronnie Simison in 1958 when he went looking for stone to make corner posts for fencing. On a grassy mound, erosion had revealed a cache of tools which included axe heads a knife and other finds.

Excavations carried out over twenty years later revealed a Neolithic chambered cairn which contained over 16,000 pieces of human bone and over 700 bird bones. Most of these were identified as coming from white-tailed sea eagles, hence the name of the tomb.

This is very much a family business and Freda and Kathleen (daughters of Ronnie Simison) begin your visit by telling you the history of the site and show you some of the many artifacts which had been recovered during the excavations. Visitors are encouraged to handle the ‘finds’ and after lots of banter and many questions people can then make their way out to the site of the Bronze Age burnt mound and the tomb.

Visitors are encouraged to ask questions and to handle the artefacts as well as too see the artefacts on display in the Visitor Centre

Hoping for decent weather we arrived ill clad and I was very pleased when Kathleen offered us the use of wellies, waterproofs and an array of scarfs, hats, gloves and even socks!! So, there is no need to load the car down with these items as they are all provided.

Half way to the cairn you come across the remains of a Bronze Age site. This is known as Liddle Burnt Mound and excavations revealed the remains of a building which is thought to have been a house originally as there was a hearth, beds and a reservoir for water. A mound of stone and peat ash lay next to the structure which was the accumulated residue from peat fires.

Liddle Burnt Mound

After another short walk we arrived at the tomb. The view from here is spectacular and the family have set out benches along the path so you can rest and take in the view. It is not hard to see why our ancestors built a tomb here. There is some evidence to suggest that the cairn might align with the rising sun at certain times of the year too.

The tomb itself is a rectangular main chamber with side cells and stalls and is spacious enough to be able to stand up in. It’s thought that this was the final resting place for over 340 individuals. None of the skeletons were complete which suggests that the bodies were left to decay in the open air, and then the bones were taken into the tomb.

The Tomb of the Eagles

Radiocarbon dates suggest the tomb was build around 3000 BC and was in use for over 800 years.
We really enjoyed our visit and if you would like to know more then look up the web site at Http://www.tomboftheeagles.co.uk/ or look up http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/isbister/index.html
Joyce