Hower, a prehistoric structure on Papa Westray, Orkney

This report was illustrated with 400 feet of 16 mm.silent film.Sandstorms have preserved for Scottish archaeology another prehistoric settlement in Orkney.The site under review lies on the west side of the small island of Papa Westray, an island which has already contributed much to our knowledge of a long-forgotten past.Evidence of the occupation of this settlement has been known to the islanders for a long time as each succeeding storm sends huge seas battering the face of the cliff, and carrying away parts of the foreshore on which it is situated.The name Hower -was given to the site by the Norsemen.The word is the plural of "how," a mound, because at one time the site was occupied by more than one mound.To-day the islanders speak of the site as the Knap of Hower, showing that they have forgotten the original meaning of the word.Knap means a cap, and one could not speak of the knap or cap of the mounds.Encroachment by the sea showed us that unless excavation was done very soon, a survey of this site would be impossible, as it would be entirely swept away.Sand covered the top of the masonry to a depth of some 8 feet.After this was cleared, the work of excavating was comparatively easy.The inside of the building was full of sand, which was very quickly disposed of by throwing it over the cliff.The excavation revealed two buildings lying parallel to each other, the larger being situated to the south of the other, and lying with its main axis N.W. and S.E.(fig.1).Both buildings are constructed of dry-built rubble masonry.The inside of the larger building somewhat resembles the outline of a figure of eight on plan.The area within the thick enclosing wall is 32 feet long and 16 feet wide, and is divided transversely into two parts or chambers by stone slabs set in alignment but having intervals between them.The side slabs are bonded into the lateral walls, and while these slabs stand as high as the remaining height of the wall, approximately 5 feet, they appear to have been broken off at the top (fig.2).The slabs forming the middle portion of the partition

Archaeology · Geography · Prehistory · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · History · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Scottish History and National Identity

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