At Midhowe, on Rousay, is the best example of a broch in Orkney. It was excavated in the early 1930s by W.Grant.
The broch began to collapse soon after it was built - the builders added large vertically-placed slabs against the outside of the broch to butress the sagging walls.
Buildings were later constructed around the broch, and one of these has survived well.
There is evidence of bronze and iron having been worked by the people who settled here.
There are also fragments of Roman pottery, indicating at least an indirect contact with the Roman Empire.
There is a stalled cairn adjacent to the broch, known as The Great Ship Of Death. This was also excavated in the early 1930s and the remains of 25 people were found on shelves within the tomb.
To the map of Orkney.