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The
Maes Howe carvings - SMC078
Maes
Howe is a magnificent chambered tomb in Stenness on the Orkney
Mainland that was excavated in 1861. On the walls is a collection
of Viking runic carvings from when the tomb was broken into
in the twelfth century.
The graffiti includes simple inscriptions of names, funny
and rude inscriptions, and romantic writing. One carving is
by a man who claimed to be the most skilled with runes in
the western ocean.
The collection of runes is one of the largest in the world
with about thirty inscriptions. Also carved on the walls are
a walrus, a knotted serpent, and a dragon.
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