Dwarfie Stane

The Dwarfie Stane is a megalithic chambered tomb carved out of a titanic block of Devonian Old Red Sandstone located in a steep-sided glaciated valley between the settlements of Quoys and Rackwick on Hoy, an island in Orkney [1]. The stone is a glacial erratic located in desolate peatland [1]. The Dwarfie Stane is the only chambered tomb in Orkney that is cut from stone rather than built from stones and may be the only example of a Neolithic rock-cut tomb in Britain [1]. A stone slab originally blocked the entrance to the tomb on its west side, but now lies on the ground in front of it [1]. The tomb has been plundered by making an opening through the roof of the chamber [1]. The time of this event is not known, but the hole in the roof had been noted by the 16th century [1].