Editing Maeshowe (section)

==Excavation==
[[File:Maes Howe 1861.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Maeshowe soon after opening in 1861]]
The "modern" opening of the tomb in July&nbsp;1861 was by [[James Farrer (British politician)|James Farrer]], an antiquarian and the [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[South Durham (UK Parliament constituency)|South Durham]].<ref>Ritchie (1995) p 9</ref> Farrer, like many antiquarians of the day, was not noted for his careful excavation of sites. John Hedges describes him as possessing "a rapacious appetite for excavation matched only by his crude techniques, lack of inspiration, and general inability to publish."<ref>Hedges (1984) p 22</ref> Farrer and his workmen broke through the roof of the entrance passage and found it filled with debris. He then turned his attention to the top of the mound, broke through, and over a period of a few days, emptied the main chamber of material that had filled it completely. He and his workmen discovered the famous [[runic]] inscriptions carved on the walls, proof that Norsemen had broken into the tomb at least six centuries earlier.<ref>Ritchie (1995) p 10</ref>

As described in the [[Orkneyinga saga]], Maeshowe was looted by the famous [[Vikings]] [[Harald Maddadsson|Earl Harald Maddadarson]] and Ragnvald, Earl of Møre<ref name=OJ>
{{cite web
 |title=Maeshowe's runes - Viking graffiti
 |website=Orkneyjar
 |url=http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/maeshowe/maeshrunes.htm
 |access-date=30 October 2008
}}
</ref>
around the 12th&nbsp;century. The more than 30 [[Runic alphabet|runic]] inscriptions on the walls of the chamber represent the largest single collection of such carvings in the world. More recent fieldwork has demonstrated that the application of a computational photography technique, [[Polynomial texture mapping|reflectance transformation imaging]] (RTI),{{efn|The wikipedia article for ''reflectance transformation imaging'' (RTI) is under the (more current?) name ''[[polynomial texture mapping]]''.}}
can shed light onto the nature of the inscriptions and their sequencing.<ref name=IA>{{harvnb|Smith|Beale|Richards|Scholma-Mason|2018}}</ref>

[[File:Orkney Cabinet - Maeshowe - Scottish Ten animation (7883502538).jpg|thumb|Maes Howe interior in 2012]]

Excavations have revealed that the external wall surrounding the ditch was rebuilt in the 9th century. Some archaeologists see this as evidence that the tomb may have been reused by the Norse people and that they were the source of the "treasure" found by the later looters.<ref name=Monuments>
{{cite book
 |last=Wickham-Jones |first=Caroline
 |year=2012
 |title=Monuments of Orkney
 |publisher=Historic Scotland
 |isbn=978-1-84917-073-4
}}
</ref>{{rp|46}}