Stonehenge #2

The Orkney Isles — Homes Set In Stone

Skara Brae’s blueprint for Neolithic furnishings.

Image © Linda Acaster. Looking down on part of Neolithic family home at Skara Brae, Orkney. Hearth bottom centre, quern stones above, shelving unit. Left: box bed with storage recesses.

Following on from the Stonehenge Overview, we travel 680 miles north.

Ten miles off the UK’s Scottish mainland lies Orkney, an archipelago of 70 islands which cosset some of the most spectacular Neolithic remains in Europe. From nearly 3,000 Neolithic sites, a handful have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which seems a shame for the rest, and also for the abundant Iron Age, Pictish, and Norse sites.

Part of the Ring of Brodgar circle of originally 60 megaliths. 36 survive. 104 metre / 341 feet diameter. Image by © David Acaster (used with permission).

Because there has been no sizeable population explosion, and the main industry remains agriculture, most monuments dating from this period remain largely undisturbed: the Stones of Stenness; the Bookan Henge; and the multitude of chambered cairns, such as Maeshowe and Quanterness.

Since 2004, a seasonal excavation on the Ness of Brodgar has been revealing a multi-level settlement and ceremonial complex some 100 x 20 metres (328 x 65 feet) in size. I’ll be writing about this when I eventually get my head round it.