Skara Brae, Quoyloo, Orkney, Scotland.
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SKARA BRAE
QUOYLOO
ORKNEY
SCOTLAND
SKARA BRAE IS THE BEST PRESERVED NEOLITHIC VILLAGE IN NORTHERN EUROPE. THE SETTLEMENT IS A VITAL PART OF THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY, WORLD HERITAGE SITE. THIS DRAWS MANY VISITORS YEARLY TO MAINLAND ORKNEY, SITUATED BETWEEN NORTH SCOTLAND AND SHETLAND.
ON THE WEST MAINLAND COAST, AT THE BAY OF SKAILL AND OFF THE B9056 ROAD, YOU WILL FIND A PARTLY BELOW GROUND VILLAGE THAT WAS LIVED IN PRE EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS AND STONEHENGE CONSTRUCTION. THE STRUCTURE SURVIVES SURPRISINGLY INTACT WITH THE FURNITURE STILL IN PLACE.
IN THE PRESENT WE CAN LOOK INTO EACH DWELLING FROM ROOF LEVEL AND VISUALISE OUR ANCESTORS PLACING ITEMS ON THE DRESSER, LAYIN IN BED, SITTING AT THE HEARTH AND WALKING IN AND OUT THE DOORWAYS. SKARA BRAE WAS IN USE FOR 600 YEARS FROM 5100-4500 YEARS AGO. THE VILLAGE IS IN THE CARE OF HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT SCOTLAND.
DURING THE WINTER OF 1850 A FEIRCE STORM RIPPED THE TURF FROM THE HIGH DUNE NEAR SKAILL HOUSE. A HUGE REFUSE HEAP WAS BROUGHT TO LIGHT ALONG WITH REMAINS OF A PREHISTORIC SETTLEMENT.
SKARA BRAE HAS BEEN SO WELL PRESERVED DUE TO ‘MIDDEN’. THIS IS A LONG LASTING BUILDING MATERIAL, THE DWELLINGS WERE ENCOMPASSED BY AND BUILT INTO. SAND WAS ALSO AN IMPORTANT PART TO SKARA BRAES SURVIVAL IN COVERING THE VILLAGE AND GIVING IT FURTHER STABILITY.
WHAT IS LEFT TODAY ARE TEN BUILDINGS MADE OF ORCADIAN FLAGSTONE. IT IS POSSIBLE SKARA BRAE WAS MUCH BIGGER. ARCHAEOLOGISTS ARE CONFIDENT THERE IS LITTLE TO UNCOVER AT THE LANDWARD SIDE. AT THE BEACH END, IT IS POSSIBLE MORE VILLAGE MAY HAVE EXISTED.
THERE WERE TWO PARTS OF CONSTRUCTION. THE BULK OF WHAT WE SEE TODAY IS THE YOUNGER CONSTRUCT. THIS HAS MOSTLY COVERED THE ORIGINAL BUILD WHICH HAD A DIFFERENT LAY OUT PLAN. HOUSES 9 & 10 ARE FROM THE FIRST PHASE. HOUSE 9 IS THE BEST PRESERVED OF THE EARLIER DWELLINGS.
THE MIDDEN MATERIAL WAS THE FIRST STAGE OF CONSTRUCTION. THIS CONSISTED OF DECOMPOSED FOODSTUFF, DUNG, SHELLS, STONES AND BROKEN ANIMAL BONES. SIMILAR TO A GARDENERS COMPOST HEAP. THIS MATERIAL MADE A TOUGH CLAY LIKE SUBSTANCE.
AS YOU ENTER EACH HOUSE YOU ARE MET WITH THE DRESSER STRAIGHT AHEAD. HOUSE 7 IS THE BEST PRESERVED. THE REMAINS OF TWO FEMALES WERE FOUND BENEATH THE FLOOR. THERE IS ALSO A HIGH LEVEL OF STONE CARVED DECORATION HERE. THE VISITORS CENTRE RECONSTRUCTION IS BASED ON THE HOUSE 7 DESIGN.
HOUSE 1 IS THE LARGEST AND NEAREST THE SEA. THIS IS A TYPICAL DESIGN FOR ALL THE HOUSES. NEXT TO THE DRESSER IS A UNIQUE FEATURE, THERE IS THREE SMALL BOX TANKS FOR FISH BAIT. AT THE DRESSERS RIGHT HAND SIDE IS A STONE GRINDER, IN THE CENTRE IS THE HEARTH. BETWEEN THE DRESSER AND HEARTH IS A STONE SEAT, AT EITHER SIDE IS THE BOX BEDS WITH STORAGE SPACES SET INTO THE WALLS.
STRUCTURE 8 IS PECULIAR AS IT IS DETACHED FROM THE REST OF THE VILLAGE. IT IS ALSO THE ONLY ROOM WHICH IS NOT FOR LIVING. THE ONLY FEATURE IT HAS IS THE HEARTH. IT HAS THICKER WALLS THAN THE OTHER DWELLINGS AND WAS FREESTANDING WITHOUT THE MIDDEN MATERIAL.
DURING EXCAVATIONS THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS FOUND ‘CHERT’ A FLINT LIKE STONE, EVERYWHERE. THIS SUGGESTS A WORKSHOP AREA FOR MAKING STONE TOOLS. OUTSIDE STRUCTURE 8 IS THE SO CALLED ‘MARKET PLACE’. WHICH HAS A PAVED AREA INSIDE THE MAIN PASSAGE.
THE SHORT AND NARROW DOORWAYS WOULD HAVE OFFERED PROTECTION AGAINST WIND. BEAR IN MIND THE HOUSES WERE ORIGINALLY ROOFED. SUPPORT BEAMS FOR THE ROOF WOULD HAVE BEEN MADE FROM WHALEBONE OR WOOD. THE ROOF MATERIAL WAS TURF, WEIGHTED DOWN BY TWISTED HEATHER MADE INTO ROPE.
CARVINGS CAN BE FOUND ON SOME OF THE WALLS AND PASSAGES. THE CARVINGS ARE SIMPLE ABSTRACT DESIGNS. THEY MAY ORIGINALLY HAVE BEEN COLOURED IN.
DURING EXCAVATIONS A FEW FINDS WERE OBJECTS MADE OF BONE WHICH RESEMBLE DICE. COW NUCKLE BONES WERE ALSO FOUND AND MAY HAVE A DIVINATION PURPOSE.
SKARA BRAE APPEARS TO BE ON A NORTH WEST ALIGNMENT WITH THREE SITES, RING OF BRODGAR, STONES OF STENNESS AND MAESHOWS. THE LATTER THREE CONSTRUCTIONS MAKE UP THE WORLD HERITAGE SITE. THE RING OF BOOKAN COULD ALSO BE INCLUDED ON THIS ALIGNMENT.
SKARA BRAE HAS A RESEMBLANCE TO PREHISTORIC VILLAGES IN CORNWALL, ENGLAND. CARN EUNY AND CHYSUTER ARE TWO EXAMPLES. HERE WE HAVE SIMILAR CONSTRUCTIONS AT THE TWO EXTREMES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.
WHEN SKARA BRAES USE CAME TO AN END, AT THE SAME TIME THE MAJESTIC CONSTRUCTIONS OF MAESHOWE, THE STONES OF STENNESS AND THE RING OF BRODGAR WERE BEING ERECTED.
IN NORTH EUROPE, SKARA BRAE IS UNPARALLELED IN ITS GIFT OF GIVING US AN INSIGHT OF HOW OUR DEEP ANTIQUITY ANCESTORS LIVED THERE LIVES. THE SITE STILL HOLDS THIS PROFOUND STATUS TODAY.
A BIG THANK YOU YO OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS.
Occupying the North Atlantic: Mesolithic middens & Viking diaspora
Mike Church's key research theme is the investigation of the interaction between humans and the environment in the North Atlantic islands (including Atlantic Scottish islands, Faroes, Iceland and Greenland) through reconstructing and analyzing:
1) trajectories of environmental change
2) the impact of human settlement on palaeoenvironments
3) palaeoeconomies in different island settings
4) cultural adjustments to marginality