Dwarfie Stane

The Dwarfie Stane is a unique megalithic chambered tomb carved from a massive block of Old Red Sandstone on Hoy, Orkney, Scotland. Measuring 8.6 metres long, 4 metres wide, and 2.5 metres high, the glacial erratic contains a narrow passage leading to two small cells, and was hollowed out before the invention of metal tools. It is the only known prehistoric rock-cut tomb in Britain, bearing similarity to Neolithic or Bronze Age tombs around the Mediterranean, and is tentatively dated to 3500-3000 BC based on form alone, as no artefacts have been found linking it to any specific period. The site also bears beautifully carved Persian script from 1850 and was popularised in Walter Scott's novel The Pirate (1821).