View source for Holm of Papa

{{short description|Small uninhabited island in the Orkney Islands, Scotland}}
{{Other places3|Papa, Scotland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox Scottish island 
|Image= Holm of Papay.jpg
|ImageCaption= Holm of Papa, viewed across South Wick, from Papa Westray
|location_map= Scotland Orkney
|caption= Holm of Papa shown within Orkney
|coordinates = {{coord|59|21|03|N|2|52|07|W|type:isle_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
|GridReference=HY507519
|celtic name=
|norse name=
|meaning of name=
|area=21 ha<ref name=Rick>{{RLTIS}}</ref>
|area rank=
|highest elevation= 15&nbsp;m 
|Population=0<ref>{{NRS1C}}</ref>
|population rank=
|main settlement= 
|island group=[[Mainland Orkney|Orkney]] 
|local authority=[[Orkney Islands]]
|references=<ref name=Smith>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 400</ref><ref name=OS5>{{cite map|title=Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 5 ''Orkney (Northern Isles)''|ISBN=9780319228111|publisher=Ordnance Survey|date=2008}}</ref>
}}

The '''Holm of Papa''' (or '''Holm of Papay''', '''Holm of Papa Westray''' and known locally as the '''Papay Holm''',<ref>[http://www.papawestray.co.uk/] papawestray.co.uk.</ref><ref>[http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/208] themodernantiquarian.com.</ref><ref name = Ojar>[http://www.orkneyjar.com/archaeology/2009/09/18/eyebrows-link-westray-figurine-with-burial-chamber/ "Eyebrows link Westray figurine with burial chamber"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326030606/http://www.orkneyjar.com/archaeology/2009/09/18/eyebrows-link-westray-figurine-with-burial-chamber/ |date=26 March 2014 }} Orkneyjar. Retrieved 1 April 2014.</ref>) is a very small [[uninhabited island]] in the [[Orkney Islands]]. It is around {{convert|21|ha}} in size.<ref name=Rick/> It can be visited from its neighbouring island [[Papa Westray]], or Papay, an island less than a hundred metres west of the Holm.

==Prehistory==
The main sight on the small island is the Southcairn, a 20 metre long [[chambered cairn]] dating from approx. 3000 BC on whose stones one can find ancient carvings.<ref>{{cite web |title=Holm of Papay |url=https://www.papawestray.co.uk/history/holm-of-papay.html |accessdate=2008-10-05 |publisher=Papay Development Trust}}</ref> The long, stalled cairn, built of local stone, was once a communal burial place for the bones of an ancient community. It is protected by a modern roof and entered by a trapdoor from above. It is possible that the inhabitants of the [[Knap of Howar]] buried their dead here. There are three ancient chambered cairns on the holm. Visitors can arrange privately for small boat access through the Co-op shop on Papa Westray. The cairn is readily visible from the larger island.

“Eyebrow motif” carvings found in the southernmost chambered cairn  bear a resemblance to the "eyes" of the [[Orkney Venus]] found  at [[Links of Noltland]] on [[Westray]].<ref name=Ojar/>

==History==
Joseph Anderson noted that in the ''[[Orkneyinga saga]]'' "The two Papeys, the great and the little (anciently Papey Meiri and Papey Minni), now [[Papa Westray]] and [[Papa Stronsay]], are both mentioned in the Saga. [[John of Fordun|Fordun]] in his enumeration of the islands, has a 'Papeay tertia' [third Papey], which is not now known."<ref>Anderson (1893) Footnote to Chapter XVIII, p.38</ref> William Thomson suggests that "perhaps ''Papay Tercia'' was the Holm of Papay — not a separate [[papar]]-site but a [[holm (island)|holm]] subsidiary to Papa Westray".<ref>Thomson, William P.L. " The Orkney Papar-names" in Ballin Smith (2007) p. 517</ref>

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{Orkneyinga}}
* Ballin Smith, Beverley, Taylor, Simon and Williams, Gareth (eds) (2007) ''West Over Sea: Studies in Scandinavian Sea-borne Expansion and Settlement Before 1300''. Brill. {{ISBN|90-04-15893-6}}
*{{Haswell-Smith}}

{{Commons category|Holm of Papa}}
{{North West Orkney}}
{{Orkney Islands}}
{{Prehistoric Orkney}}
{{European Standing Stones}}

[[Category:4th-millennium BC architecture in Scotland]]
[[Category:Uninhabited islands of Orkney]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of Orkney]]
[[Category:Scheduled monuments in Orkney]]
[[Category:Chambered cairns in Scotland]]


{{Orkney-geo-stub}}