Dear Sig: Fascinating stuff! Why would one in those days, when excavations and stonework involved so much backache and sweat, would someone choose to bury their canine comrades in a fashion that mimics ad Egyptian royal? I understand the concept of crypts and so on as they pertain to humans, but dogs? This Cuween Hill is very close to our farm. I have a photo of it on my computer home page. It is taken from a hole-in-the-ground called Fairy Knowe and from there we can see the old farm and Holme of Grimbister. I also have a shot from a Wideford Hill, looking I presume west towards Finstown over Grimbister. Puzzles me. Why 24 dogs in a Cairn?( Gosh, I wonder if they were our dogs!) Somehow when I read the Saga for the second time (wore out the book Fiona sent me. Fell in the hot tub once too many times), I in my imagination cannot conceive of life in those old and volatile times without a canine sentry. Around here in the country, to this day, when men leave to go to town or whatever, they often feel some satisfaction knowing that their dog is accompanying their loved ones. Often that proves to be a worthwhile and practical solution to what is becoming more of a concern as people stream in here from the cities. Newfoundlanders would simply love that Orkney seaside, windswept environment. Where does Dr. Colin Richards hang his hat? He might have a thought or two about this mysterious practice of exotic yesteryear pet burials. Buried human bodies about ten feet from the high water mark in sand, and the dogs in former years, were virtually entombed. There has to be a reason for this. And my normally exotic imagination can't muster one up. Thanks for your information. By the way, I checked out in this process your site and the info on Cuween. Once again you have Orkney in the Jar, so to speak! Well done. Very informative. Must check out the location exactly on my ordinance charts, it it is on them. Appears to be within a mile or less of the Bay of Firth south of Finstown. Thanks Again:.........Stephen (-8C and 1.5 feet of snow. ) On Monday, December 15, 2003, at 03:56 PM, Sigurd Towrie wrote: > On 15 December 2003 20:30, Sigurd Towrie wrote: > >> Reading through an excavation report of the Cuween >> cairn opening this morning, although he does document the dog >> bones, there is no real analysis. > > Forgot to mention that the Cuween skulls were "lost" at some point > after > the excavation, but in April this year, when speaking to Dr Colin > Richards, who is carrying out a project on the chambered cairns of > Wideford, Quanterness, Cuween etc, he confirmed that human skulls and > two of the 24 dog skulls found in the "excavation" had turned up in the > National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. > > Their re-discovery will allow the cairn to be finally dated accurately > - > a date which is thought could be much earlier than the current 3,000BC > estimate. > > -- > Sigurd Towrie > Blackhall - Kirbister - Stromness - Orkney > Heritage of Orkney: www.orkneyjar.com > Home: sigurd@orkneyjar.com > Work: sigurd.towrie@orcadian.co.uk > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the > word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com >