Rennibister Earth House

Inside the souterrain
Entrance to the site is through a hatch in the rood

Rennibister Earth House is located on the Mainland of Orkney, in Scotland.[1] It is located by the south eastern shore of the Bay o' Firth, in a farm yard and is accessed by a hatch in the roof of the earth house and by a ladder. Its location is more picturesque than that of its counterpart, Grain Earth House.

The souterrain was discovered when a threshing machine caused the roof to collapse on 12 November 1926 and seems to date from c. 1000 BC. Access was originally by a passage that was low, with a small drop into the chamber. The chamber itself has 4 pillars supporting the roof, and 5 alcoves in the walls. Unusually, the chamber had the remains of 6 adults and 12 children.

The Site is currently in the care of Historic Scotland.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/earth-houses/rennibister.htm

Further reading

External links

Coordinates: 58°59′48″N 3°2′59″W / 58.99667°N 3.04972°W / 58.99667; -3.04972

Prehistoric Orkney

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, April 14, 2013. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.