The Stones of Stenness, Orkney

With an account of the Stone of Odin

Abstract

HY 307125. Report of excavations on the Class I henge together with discussion (by E W Marwick) of the folklore surrounding an outlying standing stone, the Stone of Odin, and a catalogue of important 18th and 19th century illustrations of both sites. Excavation of the henge revealed that a ring of twelve stones was originally planned and that a complex stone and timber setting occupied the centre, grooved ware was found in both the central feature and the ditch terminal. Radiocarbon dates in late 3rd millennium bc suggest that the henge was contemporary with Skara Brae and tombs of Maes Howe type. AR