Cosmic chamber: Maeshowe mound in Orkney

Five thousand years ago, Orkney was a flourishing place whose inhabitants built fine stone houses in the settlement of Skara Brae. The green mound of Maeshowe stands nearby and must be where they communed with ancestors. Stoop to enter its long tunnel and you come to a dome-like chamber superbly constructed in about 2,800 BC with stone lintels. At the winter solstice, the setting sun shines directly down the tunnel and pierces the inner chamber to create a cosmic lightshow Illustration: Murdo Macleod/Murdo Macleod