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Cave or grotto

The Dwarfie Stane

Rackwick valley, Hoy, Orkney

A tomb carved out of a single giant block of stone.

The Dwarfie Stane is a huge block of sandstone that was hollowed out with stone tools around 5,000 years ago to make a tomb with two side chambers. It is the only rock-cut tomb in Britain.

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When
About 3000 BC
Where
58.8860, -3.3130
Group
Caves & grottoes

Visiting

A short walk from the Rackwick road. Free.

Cover of The Ledger of Lost Britain by Cale Mills
Read the full story in the book

The Ledger of Lost Britain

The Romans arrived in AD 43. For most people that is where the history of Britain begins. But by the time the legions landed, people had already been living on these islands for thousands of years. They had hunted, farmed, mined flint, dragged stones across the country, raised a hill by hand, and buried their dead in great tombs. They left no written words. What they left was the ground itself. Every place in this book can be visited, or has been dug up, or is in a museum.

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