"A hilltop Neolithic tomb where twenty-nine human dead lay alongside thirty-six red deer, suggesting bonds between species that predated domestication's dominance"
Knowe of Yarso
Rousay, Orkney Islands, United Kingdom
High on a hillside above Eynhallow Sound, the Knowe of Yarso commands views that stretch across the water to Mainland Orkney and the hills beyond. When this stalled cairn was excavated in 1934, it yielded the remains of at least twenty-nine human individuals and, remarkably, the skulls of thirty-six red deer. This conjunction of human and animal remains, echoing similar deposits at other Orkney cairns, suggests that Neolithic communities understood their relationship with certain animals as extending beyond death into the realm of the ancestors.
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Quick Facts
Location
Rousay, Orkney Islands, United Kingdom
Tradition
Site Type
Coordinates
59.1342, -3.0419
Last Updated
Feb 6, 2026
The Knowe of Yarso represents the burial traditions of Neolithic farming communities on Rousay, with the distinctive addition of red deer remains that suggest totemic or spiritual relationships between human communities and wild animals.
Origin Story
The Neolithic communities who built Yarso left no written records. The cairn was constructed approximately 3000 BCE on a hillside with commanding views over Eynhallow Sound. The choice of an elevated rather than coastal location may have carried symbolic significance, perhaps placing the dead closer to the sky or providing them with oversight of the landscape below. The inclusion of thirty-six red deer skulls suggests the builders understood their community's identity as linked to these animals.
Key Figures
Walter Grant
J. Graham Callander
Spiritual Lineage
No continuous tradition connects the present to the Neolithic builders. The beliefs that motivated the placement of deer skulls alongside human remains are irrecoverable. The site is managed as a heritage monument.
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