--- author: Eric Wagoner date: '1999-12-09T10:28:53' draft: false title: In the Orkney Isles of --- In the Orkney Isles of Scotland, archaeologists are studying [Mine Howe](http://www.orkneyjar.com/minehowe.htm) and its 29 steps that lead "into the bowels of the earth." Probably thousands of years old, not much is yet known about this chamber, located underneath one of the familiar earthen mounds located across northern Europe. Local surveys and anecdotal evidence suggest that the immediate area may be littered with many of these chambers, undisturbed for countless centuries.