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Ancient monument

Tomb of the Eagles

Isbister, South Ronaldsay

A cliff-top tomb of 16,000 bones and the talons of sea eagles.

In 1958 farmer Ronald Simison found a burial chamber on his land. It held about 16,000 human bones from at least 324 people, and the bones and talons of white-tailed sea eagles.

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When
c. 3200 BC
Where
58.7370, -2.9200
Group
Circles & monuments

Visiting

Privately run visitor centre; entry is on a wheeled trolley.

Cover of The Ledger of Lost Britain by Cale Mills
From the book

The Ledger of Lost Britain

With them were the talons and bones of between eight and twenty birds, mainly white-tailed sea eagles. Hence the name, the Tomb of the Eagles.

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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