Editing Knap of Howar (section)

==The site==
The farmstead consists of two adjacent rounded rectangular thick-walled stone buildings with very low doorways facing the sea. The larger and older structure is linked by a low passageway to the other building, which has been interpreted as a workshop or a second house. They were constructed on an earlier [[midden]], and were surrounded by midden material which has protected them. There are no windows; the structures were presumably lit by fire, with a hole in the roof to let out smoke. Though they now stand close to the shore, they would have originally lain inland.

The stone walls of the buildings are preserved; and while the roof is missing, it was likely made of wood and [[Thatching|thatched]] or [[Sod roof|turfed]]. A hearth and a stone-built cupboard survive inside, and there may have been an external porch.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Knap of Howar: History |url=https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/knap-of-howar/history/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |website=www.historicenvironment.scot |publisher=Historic Environment Scotland|language=en}}</ref> Local [[Rock (geology)|stone]] splits into thin slabs, offering a ready source of construction material.

[[Image:Knapp of Howar.jpg|thumb|250px|Looking back through the low entrance doorway into the main house, a visitor's backpack gives an idea of scale]]
[[Image:Knapp of Howar 2.jpg|thumb|250px|The main house now looks out over the Atlantic Ocean]]
The walls still stand to an [[eaves]] height of {{convert|1.6|m}}, and the stone furniture is intact, giving a vivid impression of life in the house. Fireplaces, partition screens, beds, and storage shelves are almost intact, and [[post hole]]s were found indicating the roof structure.

Evidence from the middens shows that the inhabitants were keeping cattle, sheep and pigs, cultivating [[barley]] and [[wheat]], and gathering [[shellfish]] as well as fishing for species which must have been line-caught using boats.

Finds of finely-made and decorated [[Unstan ware]] pottery link the inhabitants to [[chambered cairn]] tombs nearby and to sites far afield including [[Balbridie]] and [[Eilean Domhnuill]].
The name Howar is believed to be derived from the [[Old Norse]] word ''haugr'', meaning mounds or [[Tumulus|barrows]]. The site is in the care of [[Historic Scotland]].<ref>[http://www.paparproject.org.uk/orkney3.html Broch of Burrian Archaeology (The Papar Project)]</ref>