Mine Howe VR and movie gallery

Movie clips

Panoramic VR: Time Team called in experts to construct a copy of the Mine Howe structure using the same building techniques as in the original. The reconstruction is seen here from the interior.

Panoramic VR: Excavation near the entrance to the Mine Howe structure. What is at first thought to be another entrance chamber near here, discovered right at the end of the excavations, turns out to be a burial cist.

Panoramic VR: As the earth is stripped away the site reveals a range of structures and occupation over different periods.

Panoramic VR: A jumble of different occupation layers greeted the diggers at Mine Howe, here seen recording an Iron-Age roundhouse.

Panoramic VR: The entrance to the Mine Howe structure, protected from the elements and surrounded by excavations.

Panoramic VR: Looking across the excavation site at Mine Howe, from Time Team's scale reconstruction of the Mine Howe structure.

Ancient Orkney

Orkney is a living museum of archaeological sites, spanning several millennia. Here we invite you to take a virtual trip around a few of them.

Panoramic VR: The Broch of Gurness, on Orkney's northern coast, is a fortified settlement dating from about two millennia ago. It contains an underground well that bears some resemblance in its construction to the stonework found at Mine Howe.

Panoramic VR: Interior of the Broch of Gurness.

Panoramic VR: Inside one of the houses at Skara Brae, a 5,000-year-old settlement on the north west coast of Orkney. The settlement was revealed earlier this century when a huge storm stripped away the sand that had covered it. The ancient houses that were uncovered offer a unique insight to the lives of ordinary people from so long ago. Note the double-shelved stone 'dresser' that faces the door, the stone bed space on the floor and alcove alongside.

Panoramic VR: Interior of another Skara Brae house, with characteristic 'dresser', stone beds, storage spaces and hearth in the centre of the floor. The large stone by the hearth may have been for the head of the household to sit on.

Panoramic VR: Looking from the top of one of the Skara Brae houses. Originally the whole group of houses would have been covered over, with narrow passageways leading between them. Rotted waste was piled against the external walls to provide insulation and protection from the elements. It also made the structure extremely stable and long lasting.

Panoramic VR: A reconstruction of a Skara Brae dwelling at the site visitor centre, showing all the key features found in the Skara Brae houses.

Panoramic VR: The interior of the Neolithic Maes Howe monument. The central chamber is lit by the rays of the rising sun on the midwinter solstice. Vikings later broke in through the corbelled roof of this monument, carving graffiti runes on the stonework within.

Panoramic VR: Phil gets wet filming at the Standing Stones of Stenness, another of Orkney's Neolithic monuments, close to the Ring of Brodgar.

Panoramic VR: And finally – Kirkwall harbour, Orkney.

Movie clips

The Time Team website had its own camera following the filming at Mine Howe. We bring you the behind-the-scenes shots of some of the people you don't normally see on camera, as well as some of those you do – including Tony, in full arm-flapping glory.

Movie clip 1: With the dig virtually complete, a hollow was found near the existing entrance to the Mine Howe monument. Could it be another entrance, a hidden stairway into the inner chambers? In fact, it was a burial cist.

Movie clip 2: What's inside camera-crew-assistant Malka's bag?

Movie clip 3: Phil gives everything the thumbs up, so it must be a 'wrap'.

Movie clip 4: Tony in full arm-flapping glory as he tries to point out the jumble of different occupation layers at the Mine Howe site (RealPlayer file).

You will need the QuickTime plug-in to view the QuickTime VRs.

All panoramic photographs and QTVRs © Steve Shearn at SAS VR.

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