Taversoe Tuick
Rousay
KW17 2PR
You're never far from an archaeological attraction in Rousay, and the Taversoe Tuick is one of the island's most fascinating sites to visit.
This chambered cairn is thought to be around 5000-years-old, and unlike other examples from the same era, it stretches over two storeys with a lower and upper chamber. Only one other cairn in Orkney - Huntersquoy in Eday - is built to a similar design.
Situated overlooking Wyre Sound, the Taversoe Tuick was first found in the late 1800s, before being exacavated in the 1930s. These investigations uncovered human remains in both chambers, and pottery shards in an outer chamber too. This outer chamber is connected to the rest of structure by a stone-channel, but there is still some discussion surrounding what it was actually used for.
The cairn originally had two entrances, one each for the top and bottom chambers, but now an entrance hatch in the upper level provides access below. It's a very special site to visit and provides a perfect glimpse into the lives, and deaths, of Orkney's Neolithic people.