Monday 4 June 2018

Neolitihic Orkney

Last Monday we walked in the beautiful sunny Orkney landscape and journeyed back 5,000 years to Skara Brae, the remains of a small Neolithic village of stone houses with indoor plumbing and an enclosed walkway linking the houses.

Skara Brae, Skaill Bay, Orkney
Before Stone Henge was built, . . .



                                 




. . . . before the Pyramids existed at Giza . . .


              . . . Neolithic people were building stone houses and henges in Orkney.








Skara Brae Neolithic Settlement

When Skara Brae was built it was much further from the sea than it is now. There has been considerable erosion over the last 5,000 years and it is thought some of the houses have been lost as a result. Based on what has been seen at other sites it's thought there could have been up to 12 houses in this complex.


The Maes Howe burial chamber is thought to date from the same period, as do the Ring of Brodgar, the Standing Stones at Steness, the buildings at Barnhouse next to them and the Ness of Brodger, which is thought to include a large temple-like structure. These are all very close together and not far from Skara Brae. This suggests there were a fair number of people in the area to move all the stones into place, even if these structures were built by several generations.

Maes Howe is older than New Grange in the Boyne Valley, Ireland. It is bigger on the inside, but smaller on the inside and seems to have been simply covered in turf. We weren't allowed to take photos inside.

Approaching the Maes Howe cairn. Was it a burial chamber or an observatory?



It was necessary to bend down to enter the low tunnel that leads to the central chamber. The sun enters the tunnel at the time of the Winter solstice.
 



Ring of Brodgar




Standing Stones at Steness



Broadhouse Neolithic Settlement






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