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Tomb of the Eagles

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We admit that the idea of skateboarding into a 5,000 year old tomb intrigued us into visiting the Tomb of the Eagles (also known as the Isbister Chambered Cairn) on the Orkney Islands. There are so many cairns and tombs in Scotland, the photos of people lying on a board with wheels to get into the tomb made it stand out when we were researching our travel itinerary. Of course, there are more significant reasons to visit:

  • It is a Neolithic stone burial chamber that was discovered in 1958.
  • Nearly 16,000 human bones were found inside along the remains of up to 14 white-tailed sea eagles.
  • These eagles died c. 2450–2050 BCE, up to 1,000 years after the building of the tomb.
  • The burial mound was used by several generations.

Half a mile away from the Stone Age tomb is this Bronze Age site:
tomb-of-the-eagles01

Isbister Chambered Cairn / Tomb of the Eagles, a Neolithic chambered tomb in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, UK - American Expeditioners /tomb-of-the-eagles
Isbister Chambered Cairn / Tomb of the Eagles, a Neolithic chambered tomb in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, UK - American Expeditioners /tomb-of-the-eagles

After quickly perusing the Bronze Age site, we jogged the half mile to the chambered tomb. The trail runs along the beautiful Scottish coast.

Isbister Chambered Cairn / Tomb of the Eagles, a Neolithic chambered tomb in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, UK - American Expeditioners /tomb-of-the-eagles
Isbister Chambered Cairn / Tomb of the Eagles, a Neolithic chambered tomb in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, UK - American Expeditioners /tomb-of-the-eagles
Isbister Chambered Cairn / Tomb of the Eagles, a Neolithic chambered tomb in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, UK - American Expeditioners /tomb-of-the-eagles
Skateboard into Isbister Chambered Cairn / Tomb of the Eagles, a Neolithic chambered tomb in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, UK - American Expeditioners /tomb-of-the-eagles
To get into the tomb, we each had to lay on our stomachs on the skateboard and pull ourselves into the tomb by pulling the rope.

Isbister Chambered Cairn / Tomb of the Eagles, a Neolithic chambered tomb in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, UK - American Expeditioners /tomb-of-the-eagles

Isbister Chambered Cairn / Tomb of the Eagles, a Neolithic chambered tomb in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, UK - American Expeditioners /tomb-of-the-eagles
Skulls in Isbister Chambered Cairn / Tomb of the Eagles, a Neolithic chambered tomb in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, UK - American Expeditioners /tomb-of-the-eagles
Isbister Chambered Cairn / Tomb of the Eagles, a Neolithic chambered tomb in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, UK - American Expeditioners /tomb-of-the-eagles
Skateboarding into Isbister Chambered Cairn / Tomb of the Eagles, a Neolithic chambered tomb in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, UK - American Expeditioners /tomb-of-the-eagles

Tomb of the Eagles Overview

  • Address: Liddle, South Ronaldsay, Orkney, KW17 2RW
  • Fees: Adults: £7.50; Child (13+): £3.50; Child (5-12): £2.50; Concession: £6.50
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Usage: Light
  • Length: .5 Miles
  • Things to note:
    1. This is not a wheelchair accessible site.
Tags : neolithicorkneyscotland hikes

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