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Maeshowe (or Maes Howe) is a Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave situated on Mainland Orkney, Scotland. The monuments around Maeshowe, including Skara Brae, were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. It gives its name to the Maeshowe type of chambered cairn, which bears no similarities to any other known chambered cairn design, either in Orkney or elsewhere. It is one of the largest tombs in Orkney. Maeshowe is made of 30 tons of sandstone.
Built originally by grooved ware people, the site is close to several other significant ancient monuments thought to be contemporary with Maeshowe.
It was looted by Vikings (Earl Harald Maddadarson and Ragnvald, Earl of Moer[1]) in c. 12th century CE, who left, in their passing, a series of runic graffiti on the stone walls of the chamber while they sheltered. There are over thirty individual inscriptions, the largest collection in the world.
The corbelled roof was shattered in 1861 by overenthusiastic archaeologists. Luckily, they did relatively little structural damage and the site still represents a standard of exacting design and construction not found anywhere else in the British Isles.