AssetID: 53156580
Headline: Archaeologists Discover 'Incredibly Rare' 5,000-Year-Old Tomb Filled With 14 Skeletons
Caption: Archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of an 'incredibly rare' 5,000-year-old tomb. The Neolithic site at Holm on Mainland, Orkney was largely destroyed by Victorian antiquarians 127 years ago. Experts from National Museums Scotland (NMS) and Cardiff University rediscovered the tomb after a search for its precise location. Despite the damage, the archaeologists have found 14 skeletons of men, women and children. Archaeologists said the bodies had been carefully set out, and DNA and isotope analysis would show if they were relatives and where they were from. Individual pieces of human bone were also found. The three-week excavation revealed traces of a stone cairn 15m (49ft) in diameter, which had contained a 7m-long (23ft) passage. The archaeologists said a stone chamber lay at the centre of the cairn, and was surrounded by six smaller cells. Local volunteers working with the University of Central Lancashire also made other finds, including pottery, stone tools and a pin carved from bone.
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