The History of Skara Brae

Skara Brae is one of the most ancient and best preserved archaeological sites of Europe - a Neolithic village, hidden from history for 4000 years. It would probably have stayed undiscovered but for a fierce storm that swept the Orkneys in 1850, dislodging much of the coastline on the west coast and revealing a village under the sand dunes.

Model village
It is probably the most intact example of a Neolithic village to be seen anywhere. There is a complete collection of stone houses and workshops complete with hearths, beds, cupboards and dressers, all made of stone which was the most plentiful local material (wood from trees was virtually non-existent on Orkney).

Just like a model village, each house was pretty much a copy of its neighbours. The Neolithic people who lived here left behind evidence of their everyday life: decorative pins, bones, dyestuffs and tools. It consists of eight houses linked by sunken alleyways. The villagers farmed, keeping cattle and sheep and growing some barley. They caught and ate seabirds and collected their eggs, supplementing their diet with oysters and other shellfish.

Status symbol
The most enigmatic items to be found here are some small knobbly stone balls, carefully carved out of volcanic rock. They were discovered hidden away in the stone dressers and could well have been a symbol of status - a trophy to be bought out at gatherings, and handing down through the generations. Some 400 have been found in Scotland. Other theories exist that they may have been trading pieces or gaming counters.

Safe from the elements
The survival of the houses is due to their ingenious design. The builders surrounded the stone-slab walls with earth and domestic rubbish up to roof level so that they almost disappeared from view. This provided vital insulation and is one of the reasons they lasted so long. The low doorways with their stone lintels could also be blocked with big stone slabs to keep out intruders and the weather.

A Neolithic Pompeii?
In the 1920s, it was widely believed that Skara Brae had been abandoned suddenly because of an apocalyptic event, such as an earthquake or huge storm, but later excavations show no evidence of this. More likely, it just gradually outlived its usefulness and slowly disappeared under mounting drifts of sand. The village was in use for around 1000 years from 3,200 BC to 2200 BC. During that time, some houses were knocked down and rebuilt and others repaired, just as they might be in any village today.

Not alone
Skara Brae is part of a wider archaeological setting which includes the Ring of Brodgar, the Standing Stones of Stennes and the chambered cairn tomb of Maeshowe. In 1999, UNESCO designated this area as a World Heritage site.

Feature supplied by Heritage magazine. About Heritage Magazine.

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