The Pettigarths Field Cairns is a

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

site in the parish of Nesting, northeastern

Whalsay Whalsay ( sco, Whalsa; non, Hvalsey or ''Hvals-øy'', meaning 'Whale Island') is the sixth largest of the Shetland Islands in the north of Scotland. Geography Whalsay, also known as "The Bonnie Isle", is a peat-covered island in the Shetland I ...

, in the Shetland islands of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It is located approximately to the northwest of

Benie Hoose Benie Hoose, also Bunyie Hoose, is a Neolithic site in the parish of Nesting, northeastern Whalsay, in the Shetland Islands of Scotland. It is located approximately to the northwest of the Standing Stones of Yoxie, and about southeast of the ...

. The site contains upright stones as well as masonry. The south cairn is roughly square, with an eastern entrance passage and circular chamber about across. to the north is a round cairn, in diameter, with a rectangular cist. The two cairns are located on a rise, about northwest of

. The first archaeological explorations were carried out in 1936 and 1938. They were then inferred to be tombs belonging to the Late Stone Age and

Early Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

. It was excavated in 1963 by C. S. T. Calder and visited by OS (NKB) on 30 May 1968.

Layout

The large cairn has a paved chamber and passage. The chamber is small and is heel-shaped; it is different in layout from three other cairns found in Shetland. The passage into the cairn is through two standing boulders. It is an expanding passage where stones are seen at its inner end. Parts of the jambs are described as the "terminal and lateral recesses of the

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four ring ...

." Some remnants of pottery were found here which could not be identified because of the fragmentary nature. The smaller, circular cairn was excavated up to its foundations. A slab covering was found in the cavity as grave robbers appeared to have tried robbing the tomb's interior. It revealed a trapezoidal slab-built

cist A cist ( or ; also kist ; from grc-gre, κίστη, Middle Welsh ''Kist'' or Germanic ''Kiste'') is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle Ea ...

of in length with a paved bottom. The cist has a rubble stone lining, partly surviving. The ring is in diameter; compared to the large sized boulder setting, it is indicative that an outer circular enclosure wall existed at one time.

References

{{Whalsay Neolithic Scotland Archaeological sites in Shetland Chambered cairns Whalsay