Archaeologists in Scotland have unearthed an ‘extremely rare’ tomb containing 14 prehistoric human skeletons buried inside a 5,000-year-old stone-walled tomb.

Archaeologists conducted excavations at Holm, East Mainland, Orkney Islands, northeastern Scotland, and discovered an ancient stone tomb dating back to 3,000 BC, with architecture and construction techniques. built the peak of the Neolithic Period (New Stone Age) in Northern England.

In the catacombs, scientists excavated 6 rooms, discovered 14 human skeletons of men, women and children, in particular, there were two skeletons in an almost hugging position, with two children children placed above their heads.

The exact location of this ancient tomb has long been a mystery, although documents about the tomb have been recorded since the 19th century.

According to The Guardian, in 2020, Hugo Anderson-Whymark, senior curator of Early Prehistory at the National Museum of Scotland, was researching archival documents when he stumbled across a newspaper clipping published more than a century ago.

An article published in 1896 reported that the son of a farmer from the Orkney Islands discovered traces of an ancient tomb while exploring the family home on a farm in Holm, East Mainland.

The skeletons were discovered in six rooms in the catacombs. (Source: CBS News)

“It was like a detective story,” Anderson-Whymark said. As it happened, we also had other documents in the archive, including a sketch of the location of this farmer’s family farm.”

In the summer of 2023, archaeologists visited the site, which was a rolling grassy field and outwardly showed no signs of a crypt. However, immediately after removing the turf, they immediately discovered the first traces.

The excavation revealed a crypt 15 meters in diameter, reinforced with stone walls.

Hugo Anderson-Whymark describes: “This is an extremely impressive structure, built with strong stone architecture. The elements in this structure are considered the pinnacle of Neolithic construction techniques.”

The stone crypt is built of beams, in which prehistoric workers meticulously built stone walls so that they become increasingly narrower as they reach the top of the structure.

It appears the crypt had stone columns on top, but many of the structure’s stones had been removed, Hugo Anderson-Whymark said.

Archaeologist Vicki Cummings, head of the Department of History, Archeology and Religion at England’s Cardiff University, who co-led the excavation, said: “The preservation of so many remains in one part of the vault This ancient tomb is surprising, especially since the stones used to build the tomb were mostly stolen to make construction materials.”

Skeletons of prehistoric humans from 5,000 years ago. (Photo: National Museums Scotland)

Ms. Cummings added: “It is very rare to find prehistoric skeletons in ancient tombs like this, even well-preserved ancient tombs. These ruins will provide valuable information, helping us better understand the lives of people who existed thousands of years ago.”

Up to now, only 12 other similar tombs have been discovered in the Orkney Islands. This type of tomb is called Maes Howe gallery tombs. However, those 12 tombs are located on land, unlike the 5,000 year old tombs buried underground.

Much of the crypt was destroyed in the late 18th or early 19th century to get stone to build the farm.

“In 1896, the farmer and his son, after discovering the tomb, took away some relics, including a stone mace head and a ball, but they did not care about the human remains in it. and buried everything back,” Anderson-Whymark said.

In the same year 1896, local archaeologist James Walls Cursiter discovered 8 sets of human remains in the crypt, from which he hypothesized that the above area was a destroyed ancient tomb.

Many of the documents in Curister’s own collection contain many clues, which are key for today’s archaeologists to conduct a geophysical survey to determine the exact location of surrounding tombs and open them. extensive excavation.