Calf of Eday Cairns

The Calf of Eday is an uninhabited island northeast of Eday in Orkney, Scotland, containing three Neolithic chambered cairns dating to approximately 3600-3500 BC. The main cairn, excavated by Charles Calder in 1936-37, contains two distinct chambers: an earlier Bookan-type chamber with two compartments, and a later stalled chamber with four compartments that was added with a separate entrance. The stalled chamber yielded sherds of Unstan pottery, flint tools, and two stone axes, though acidic soil prevented bone preservation. Nearby lie the ruins of an Iron Age domestic settlement on the slope just east of the cairn.