Maeshowe research project
1997/1998 results

Content

• the goals of the project
• its history
• the results
• the finances
• the future steps
• the conclusions
• acknowledgments
• references

The goals of project

1. Research the alignment of the entrance passage of Maeshowe
• experiment with mock-ups of the blocking stone placed at the entrance and with the effects of lowering of the height of the entrance passage.
• get a better understanding of why Maeshowe was built at this location and with this particular alignment by researching the orientation of the sun shining down the passage before, during and after the winter solstice.
• check and refine the computer model made of the horizon, passage and chamber of Maeshowe.
• prove that the Internet broadcasting technology works and that valid research results can be achieved
2. Promote Maeshowe and Orkney
• let people view the sunset live over The Internet.
• make videotapes and still photographs of the sunset for research and promotional reasons.
• provide educational information about Maeshowe and Neolithic Orkney
• encourage people to visit Maeshowe and Orkney in general.
3. Determine the continuation of the project
• to determine the best position for the cameras
• determine the organizational form (incl. PR and copyright).

The history of project

In December 1996 Lowell McFarland posted a message on the Internet about a question if somebody was thinking about putting a camera at Newgrange. His interest is the pagan relation with winter solstice sunsets/sunrises. Because Victor Reijs's  interest is in archaeoastronomy, he got the idea of putting a web-camera in Maeshowe for finalizing the modeling of and measurements on Maeshowe, which he has been doing since beginning of 1996.

Whilst looking at Neolithic sites on the Internet in early 1997, Charles Tait who is a photographer and publisher from Orkney with a particular interest in archaeology and local history, found Victor's Maeshowe site.  He has been interested in the Maeshowe alignments for many years, and was at once interested in Victor's proposals.   This resulted ultimately in the present collaboration, particularly in  providing the necessary local backing on public relations (radio and television stations, Orkney Tourist Board and Orkney Islands Council) and local customs. Charles Tait has long been interested in Maes Howe, having first introduced to the winter solstice sunset by his grandfather, Charles William Tait, as a small boy in the early 1950's. C.W. Tait actually wrote a magazine article about the alignment before World War 2.  In fact it is something of a family tradition to visit Maeshowe each winter.

Aerial view of Maeshowe

The project was started by negotiating with Historic Scotland  for permission to place cameras within Maeshowe around winter solstice 1997. The fact that the research results are now able to be presented, is due to Historic Scotland's willing provision of permission. This pilot project has been a great success and proved for the first time in the world that this kind of broadcast from a megalithic building is possible!  More history on the steps from the beginning to the end of this project can be found on the news page.
 

The results of the project

1. Research the alignment of the entrance passage of Maeshowe

Most of the knowledge on the alignments results from  videotaping the sunsets from the period Dec. 9^th 1997 until Feb. 3^rd, 1998 and still photography when there was a good sunset.  This has provided enough information to validate the model of Maeshowe, which was made in 1996. The most important information resulting from the videotaping is the determination of the most northerly and southerly azimuth of the outside horizon which can be seen from the back wall. By using the sun as a large theodolite and using pictures of the horizon, it was possible to determine the azimuths quiet accurately. This information has been added to the model and in turn provided more accurate information about the sun light path on the back wall.
The work has shown that the alignment lasts much longer than hitherto thought. Most people believe that this a winter solstice phenomenon only, and are thus disappointed when there are too many people or when the sky is overcast on winter solstice day.  In fact very dramatic lighting effects occur from late November through to mid-January.

But the main conclusion from the work is that the model can correctly predict the sun's path on the back wall of Maeshowe. The fact that the reappearance of the sun from the right side of Ward Hill (on Hoy) around 20 days before/after winter solstice on the back wall was predicted by the model and that it actually was witnessed by the custodians of Maeshowe on Dec. 2^nd, 1997 increases confidence in the model.  More on this is presented in a paper by Victor Reijs in the magazine 3^rd Stone (Nr 32, 1998).


Animated areal view towards Ward Hill on island Hoy

An animated picture of the reappearing of the sun on the back wall can be seen here (simulation of 20 days before or after winter solstice day and 48 to 11 minutes before present day sunset).

Open issues for 1998/1999:

• No videotaping of the reappearing sun was possible, due to the fact that no video recorder was present on Dec. 2^nd, 1997  and the lack of good sunsets afterwards. This needs to be retried in 1998/1999. Good still photography results were however obtained of these events.

 

 
 



Sun on back wall and floor of chamber on Dec. 2^nd, 1997


Light in the passage on Dec. 2^nd, 1997

• Due to the fact that not much sun was available at the time, little was done with making a mock-up of the passage blocking stone. This needs to be taken up in 1998.
• One major problem was encountered in sending live pictures over the Internet. The combination of a) the radio link between the mound and the Tormiston Mill, b) the remote Internet connection at Tormiston Mill, and c) multiple users on one Internet account; resulted in connectivity problems with the Internet Service Provider (ISP).  All were due to the pilot nature of the project, and can be resolved if finance can be found from possible sponsors.
2. Promote Maeshowe and Orkney

A list of some 200 e-mail addresses has been used to send the press release of  the megalithic cam-page of Maeshowe. This list included individuals, magazines, newspapers, television and radio stations in UK, NL, US and BE. Furthermore, several electronic distribution lists were part of the list (the span of these distribution lists is around 500-700 people). Thus at least some 2,000 people saw the announcement of the pages through The Internet.

The Internet broadcasts were a great success! Over 8,000 hits were recorded in the three week period (Dec. 1st, 1997 until Dec. 22nd, 1997 using Nedstat statistics), with a peak of some 950 hits on Dec. 21^st, 1997.
Of these 8,000 hits, about 50% came from USA, 20% from UK and 10% from NL. During the actual sunsets (14:30 - 15:15 GMT) we had some 25% of these total hits. We know that many people came back several times to the site, as they found it interesting.

Links on the main page of the broadcasts were visited through this main page by about 10% of the total hits, making this megalithic cam-page interesting for the sponsors.   Due to high attention, the page was in the top 10 of Nedstat for two weeks.  Also the amount of visitors to The Stone Circle has increased significantly due to this project.  Charles Tait's Maeshowe and Neolithic Orkney site continues to receive visits as a result and the main Maes Howe site has reached the mark of 10,000 hits in Feb. 1998!
We keep developing the Maeshowe sites further to maintain interest and encourage repeated visits.

Well over 50 individual e-mails were received with positive reactions (and no negative reactions were received!).  In fact favorable comments both verbal and digital are still coming in, from many individuals.
Besides these Internet broadcasts, we had 5 radio interviews (BBC Radio Orkney and BBC Scotland), 3 newspaper articles (The Orcadian, Sunday Post and Daily Express) and two television interviews (ITV and BBC Scotland).  This also increased the number of visitors to the Internet pages and to Maeshowe itself.

Due to the pilot nature of the project the PR aspect was deliberately limited. In particular the national broadsheets would be interested in the project and if repeated next winter: UK, US, FR, DE, NL and Scandinavian papers and other media will be contacted. We thus expect to generate a flurry of media interest in Orkney and Maeshowe in late 1998.

On Dec. 21^st and 22^nd 1997, a television set, which was kindly lent by Orkney Television Enterprise, was placed outside Maeshowe, so that people that were not able to get inside the mound (access by only 12 people at a time) were able to view the sunset. Some 20 people have used this possibility, which is an aspect which we feel could be one of the major benefits of the project.

All pictures made between the Dec. 10^th, 1997 and Dec. 22^nd, 1997 with the PC are copyrighted to Victor Reijs and Charles Tait. All other pictures/videos are copyrighted by the owners of the equipment. An example the full sunset on Jan. 2^nd, 1998 is available.

Two radio interviews and the sunset on Jan. 2nd, 1998 will be part of an educational CD-ROM published by SURFnet bv (the National Research Network of the Netherlands)  for showing the possibilities of streaming media (like real-time audio and video) over the Internet.

Open issues for 1998/1999:

• No video tape for real promotional use has been made, due to the low number of days with good sunshine inside the mound.  The weather was unusually humid, resulting in much cloud.
• More financial input has to be found to sponsor the continuation and development of the project
• investigate, through Historic Scotland and Orkney Tourist Board, if this project increases the amount of visitors for Maeshowe/Orkney in 1998
3. Determine the continuation of the project

See section on future steps.

Finances

• equipment*

Video grabber £ 50
Two S-Video Camera £ 200
video recorder £ 50
PC + modem £ 500
radio modems £ 500
• other stuff

Software £ 100
video tapes £ 25
cables £ 350
repairs £ 150
• travel (both for presenting at Edinburgh and in December)

plane £ 600
car + petrol £ 550
B&B £ 150
travel insurance £ 25
• communication

telephone £ 425
letters/parcels £ 50
ISP/WWW £ 25

The future steps

• Enhancing the present information/model of passage mounds/cairns.
• Videotaping (including time stamping) the sunsets in the chamber of Maes Howe from mid Nov. 1998 until end Jan. 1999, so as to record the reappearing sun around 20 days before and after winter solstice day.
• Making a mock-up of the passage blocking stone and its effects on the sun beam in the chamber needs to be investigated.
• Videotaping and/or photography at other sites with possible alignments (like Holm of Papa Westray South, Quoyness or some of the Rousay cairns), if suitable funds are available.
• Broadcasting the sunset from Maeshowe chamber
• Consider the possibility of installing two separate video channels in Tormiston Mill (using Video over optical fiber). One camera looking towards the back wall and one from inside the chamber towards the outside (along the passage). Video switching between the cameras could be done in Tormiston Mill.  Sending data to the Internet would also be done at Tormiston Mill.  This setup would also give the possibility of showing live pictures at Tormiston Mill.
• Have a better quality video on The Internet (besides the static pictures, also real time video over the network)
• Have a stable and single user Internet account, using a fast (telephone) link (ISDN).
• A broadcast quality educational and promotional videotape to be made of the whole sequence.  If good enough royalties from this could further finance the project.
• Determine organizational aspects of the project
• Investigate, through Historic Scotland and Orkney Tourist Board, if this project has increased the amount of visitors for Maeshowe and Orkney in general in 1998.
• Determine if any sponsorship can be gained to continue the project for winter 1998/1999, referable by Scottish or Orcadian firms and public bodies.  More financial input is to be sought from the local businesses of Orkney, as well as  Orkney Enterprise, Orkney Island Council and Historic Scotland to sponsor a continuation of the project.
• Determine the public relations and copyright issues for the continuation of the project.
• Determine the liability and insurance issues for sponsored equipment.

Conclusions

The Internet broadcast can be improved, including the services (like a video screen inside Tormiston Mill) for visitors that are not able to get into the mound due to limited access to the chamber.

The video tapes of the sunsets made have proven to be very useful in refining the model of Maes Howe. It has also now been demonstrated that the Maeshowe chamber is not only aligned to winter solstice day, but possibly also to about 23 days before/after winter solstice.  A 22/23 day period has been called a megalithic month by various people [e.g. Thom].
This is not the only Neolithic building that could have a second alignment inside the chamber. Victor Reijs has also done investigations at Newgrange and Knowth (both in Ireland) where possible dual alignments are implemented by the Neolithic people.  In addition surveys of the orientation of entry passages to many chambered cairns suggests deliberate alignment in many cases.

Due to these results, the initiators of this research, Victor Reijs and Charles Tait, would like to continue to further develop it in November 1998. A new project plan for this continuation will be finalized in April 1998.  We hope we get the same excellent support as experienced earlier!
 

Acknowledgments

Organizations that helped this project

• Electric Engineering

Providing the cables  used for the whole path (from camera to telephone line).
• Geniet

Providing the idea for this project, the project management, the two camera's , the video grabber, the software, the video recorder, web space, the travel to/from Orkney, still photography (stereo and panorama pictures) and manpower.
• Historic Scotland

Providing access inside Maeshowe, a telephone line and manpower  to support the project
• Multicap

Providing the wireless connection  between Maeshowe mound and the visitor center Tormiston Mill.
• Travel agency Nijenhuis

Providing the insurance  for the equipment which was provided by Geniet
• Orkney Television Enterprise

Providing coax cable and television set  to show outside Maeshowe the sunset from within the chamber of Maeshowe
• Charles Tait photographic

Providing enthusiastic ideas for progressing the project, the computer within the mound , the ISP account and web space, the telephone modem at Tormiston Mill, professional still photography and manpower.
• J&W Tait Limited

Providing a car  during the stay in Orkney

People that helped this project

References