As archaeological excavations go, it was not among the most sophisticated. 

Armed with a JCB digger, ropes and a shovel, Douglas Paterson set out to discover whether stories that he had heard as a boy about a "spooky underground hoose" at Tankerness on Orkney were true. 

On an island already rich in prehistoric monuments, the most famous being the coastal Stone Age village of Skara Brae, his find has emerged as unique in Europe and could be of huge importance in understanding the pagan ceremonies of early human beings.

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