| Taversöe Tuick | |||||||
| Alternate Name: | Taversoe Tuick | ||||||
| Map: |
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| Map Size: | 175px | ||||||
| Map Type: | Scotland Orkney | ||||||
| Coordinates: | 59.131°N -3.005°W | ||||||
| Location: | Orkney | ||||||
| Epochs: | Neolithic | ||||||
Taversöe Tuick (or Taversoe Tuick) is a Neolithic burial cairn on Rousay, Orkney, Scotland, thought to date from between 4000 and 2500 BCE.[1] The monument includes a rare example of a double-tiered chamber,[1] an upper chamber approached via a passageway and a lower subterranean chamber, originally separate, which can now be reached via a modern ladder from the upper chamber.[2] [3] It is unknown why the chambers were stacked in this way.[3] The monument includes a third miniature chamber slightly downhill of the lower chamber, and linked to it by a small channel which has sometimes been called a 'drain' although that is not believed to be its true purpose.
In 1898 excavations uncovered part of the upper chamber, and access was gained to the intact lower chamber.[4] The site was fully excavated in 1937, at which time the upper chamber was covered with a domed roof.[4] Finds included several skeletons, cremated bone, bowls, a mace-head, a flint arrowhead and scrapers, and shale disc beads.[4]
The site is a scheduled monument in the care of Historic Environment Scotland, and the monument and chambers are open to the public.