Crantit Chambered Cairn

Crantit is a Neolithic chambered cairn discovered in April 1998 on the outskirts of Kirkwall, Orkney, remarkable for having remained sealed and undisturbed since prehistory. The tomb measures approximately 3x3m with three cells in a clover-leaf arrangement, featuring corbelled roofing of six large flagstones and a light box formed between the roof slab and entrance lintel. Dated to c.3000-2500 BC, it contained poorly preserved remains of four individuals. Excavated over eight weeks for the BBC's Meet the Ancestors, the cairn is interpreted as a transitional form between Neolithic communal tombs and Bronze Age individual cist burials.