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Stone with runic inscription (cast)

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from Maes Howe, Orkney

Stone with runic inscription (cast)
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This is a cast of one of a number of stones carved with runic inscriptions on the inside walls of the neolithic chambered cairn at Maes Howe at Stenness on Orkney. The carvings were made between 1150 and 1200.

The inscription, when combined with another nearby, translates as 'These runes were carved by that man who is the most skilled in runes in the Western Sea, with the axe which belonged to Gaukr the son of Trandill from the south of Iceland.'

Runes are a way of representing the Roman alphabet, used in northern Europe, especially Scandinavia, from the first millennium AD. They were ideally suited to wood, though most surviving examples are on stone.

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