Notice of Excavations in the Chambered Mound of Maeshowe, in Orkney, and of the Runic Inscriptions on the Walls of its central Chamber

Abstract

This article reports on Mr Farrer’s excavation of Maeshowe in Orkney in 1861. The author describes the dimensions of the cairn’s chambers and the discovery of runes inscribed on a stone slab within the chamber. Similar structures in the UK and Europe are discussed and compared to site at Maeshowe, particularly Newgrange in Ireland. The author also engages with the debates surrounding the etymology of Maeshowe and who may have originally constructed the cairn. He concludes by examining seven of the suggested translations of the inscriptions fund within the chamber.