Skara Brae

Heart of Neolithic Orkney*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	United Kingdom
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iii, iv
Reference	514
Region**	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1999  (23rd Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO.

Skara Brae (pronounced /ˈskɑrə ˈbreɪ/) is a large stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. It consists of ten clustered houses, and was occupied from roughly 3100-2500 BC. It is Europe's most complete Neolithic village and the level of preservation is such that it has gained UNESCO World Heritage Site status^[1], and been called the "British Pompeii"^[2].

Discovery and main features

The village of Skara Brae lay hidden under grass and soil until 1850, when in the winter of that year a major storm stripped the grass from a large mound known as Skerrabra (or Skeroo Brae).

The outline of several stone buildings was revealed and initial excavations were undertaken by William Watt, the laird of Skaill. By 1868, four buildings had been uncovered and "a very rich collection of objects had been deposited in Skaill house."^[3] The site then lay largely undisturbed until 1925, when another great storm breached the mound and damaged the previously exposed structures.^[4] The buildings were placed under the guardianship of the Commissioners of HM Office of Works, which built a seawall to protect the site. The distinguished archaeologist Vere Gordon Childe led the first professional archaeological investigation of the site between 1927 and 1930,^[5] consolidating the damaged structures and uncovering new ones. For the first time, the full extent and remarkable nature of the village was revealed. The seven stone buildings, linked by stone passageways, constituted a clustered village built out of flagstones that were naturally eroded by the ocean. These flags formed from easily worked Devonian Old Red Sandstone.^[6] Archeologists believe that these structures were originally roofed with timber and whalebone and enclosed by middens and thatching that completely covered the habitations.^[7] Timber was scarce in the area and was likely limited mostly to driftwood, but there was a large supply of flagstones from the nearby ocean already cut to rough size by the tides.^[8]

Neolithic lifestyle

Skara Brae's inhabitants were apparently makers and users of grooved ware, a distinctive style of pottery that appeared in northern Scotland not long before the establishment of the village.^[9] The houses used earth sheltering but, being sunk into the ground, they were built into mounds of pre-existing domestic waste known as "middens". Although the midden provided the houses with a small degree of stability, its most important purpose was to act as a layer of insulation against Orkney's harsh winter climate. On average, the houses measure 40 square metres (430 sq ft) in size with a large square room containing a hearth which would have been used for heating and cooking. Given the number of homes, it seems likely that no more than fifty people lived in Skara Brae at any given time.^[10]

Excavated dwellings at Skara Brae.

It's by no means clear what fuels the inhabitants used in the stone hearths. Childe was sure that the fuel was peat,^[11] but a detailed analysis of vegetation patterns and trends suggests that climatic conditions conducive to the development of thick beds of peat did not develop in this part of Orkney until after Skara Brae was abandoned.^[12] Other obvious possible fuel sources include driftwood and animal dung, but there's evidence that dried seaweed may have been a significant source. At a number of sites in Orkney investigators have found a glassy, slag-like material called "cramp" that may be the residue of burnt seaweed.^[13]

The dwellings contain a number of stone-built pieces of furniture, including cupboards, dressers, seats, and storage boxes. Each dwelling was entered through a low doorway that had a stone slab door that could be closed "by a bar that slid in bar-holes cut in the stone door jambs".^[14] A sophisticated drainage system was even incorporated into the village's design, one that included a primitive form of toilet in each dwelling. Seven of the houses have similar furniture, with the beds and dresser in the same places in each house. The dresser stands against the wall opposite the door, and would have been the first thing seen by anyone entering the dwelling. Each of these houses has the larger bed on the right side of the doorway and the smaller on the left. Lloyd Laing noted that this pattern accorded with Hebridean custom up to the early 20th century suggesting that the husband's bed was the larger and the wife's was the smaller.^[15] The discovery of beads and paint-pots in some of the smaller beds may support this interpretation. Additional support may come from the recognition that stone boxes lie to the left of most doorways, forcing the person entering the house to turn to the right-hand, 'male', side of the dwelling.^[16] At the front of each bed lie the stumps of stone pillars that may have supported a canopy of fur; another link with recent Hebridean style.^[17]

Evidence of home furnishings.

The eighth house has no storage boxes or dresser, but has been divided into something resembling small cubicles. When this house was excavated, fragments of stone, bone and antler were found. It is possible that this building was used as a workshop to make simple tools such as bone needles or flint axes.^[18] The presence of heat-damaged volcanic rocks and what appears to be a flue, support this interpretation. House 8 is distinctive in other ways as well. It's a stand-alone structure not surrounded by midden,^[19] instead there is a "porch" protecting the entrance through walls that are over 2 metres (6.6 ft) thick.

The site provided the earliest known record of the human flea Pulex irritans in Europe.^[20]

The Grooved Ware People who built Skara Brae were primarily pastoralists who raised cattle and sheep.^[21]. Childe originally believed that the inhabitants did not practice agriculture, but excavations in 1972 unearthed seed grains from a midden suggesting that barley was cultivated^[22]. Fish bones and shells are common in the middens indicating that dwellers supplemented their diet with seafood. Limpet shells are common and may have been fish-bait that was kept in stone boxes in the homes^[23]. The boxes were formed from thin slabs with joints carefully sealed with clay to render them waterproof.

This pastoral lifestyle is in sharp contrast to some of the more exotic interpretations of the culture of the Skara Brae people. Euan MacKie suggested that Skara Brae might be the home of a privileged theocratic class of wise men who engaged in astronomical and magical ceremonies at nearby sites like the Ring of Brodgar and the Standing Stones of Stenness.^[24] Graham and Anna Ritchie cast doubt on this interpretation noting that there is no archaeological evidence for this claim,^[25] although a Neolithic "low road" connects Skara Brae with the magnificent chambered tomb of Maeshowe, passing near the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar.^[26] Low roads connect Neolithic ceremonial sites throughout Britain.

View over the settlement, showing covering to house No. 7 and proximity to modern shore line.

Dating and abandonment

Originally, Childe believed that the settlement dated from around 500 B.C.^[27] This interpretation was coming under increasing challenge by the time new excavations in 1972-73 settled the question. Radiocarbon results obtained from samples collected during these excavations indicates that occupation of Skara Brae began about 3180 BC.^[28] with occupation continuing for about six hundred years.^[29] Around 2500 BC, after the climate changed, becoming much colder and wetter, the settlement may have been abandoned by its inhabitants. There are many theories as to why the people of Skara Brae left, particularly popular interpretations involve a major storm. Evan Hadingham combined evidence from found objects with the storm scenario to imagine a dramatic end to the settlement:

As was the case at Pompeii, the inhabitants seem to have been taken by surprise and fled in haste, for many of their prized possessions, such as necklaces made from animal teeth and bone, or pins of walrus ivory, were left behind. The remains of choice meat joints were discovered in some of the beds, presumably forming part of the villagers' last supper. One woman was in such haste that her necklace broke as she squeezed through the narrow doorway of her home, scattering a stream of beads along the passageway outside as she fled the encroaching sand.^[30]

Anna Ritchie strongly disagrees with catastrophic interpretations of the village's abandonment:

A popular myth would have the village abandoned during a massive storm that threatened to bury it in sand instantly, but the truth is that its burial was gradual and that it had already been abandoned- for what reason, no one can tell.^[31]

The original site was further from the sea than it is today, and it's possible that Skara Brae was built adjacent to a freshwater lagoon protected by dunes.^[32] Although the visible buildings give an impression of an organic whole, it is certain that an unknown quantity of additional structures had already been lost to sea erosion before the site's rediscovery and subsequent protection by a seawall.^[33] Uncovered remains are known to exist immediately adjacent to the ancient monument, in areas presently covered by fields, and others, of uncertain date, can be seen eroding out of the cliff edge a little to the south of the enclosed area.

Artifacts

Symbols found at Skara Brae and other Neolithic sites.

A number of enigmatic Carved Stone Balls have been found at the site and some are on display in the museum.^[34] Similar objects have been found throughout northern Scotland. The spiral ornamentation on some of these "balls" has been stylistically linked to objects found in the Boyne Valley in Ireland.^[35][36] Similar symbols have been found carved into stone lintels and bed posts.^[37] These symbols, sometimes referred to as "runic writings", have been subjected to controversial translations. For example, Castleden suggested that "colons" found punctuating vertical and diagonal symbols may represent separations between words.^[38]

Lumps of red ochre found here and at other Neolithic sites have been interpreted as evidence that body painting may have been practiced.^[39].Nodules of haematite with highly polished surfaces have been found as well; the shiny surfaces suggest that the nodules were used to finish leather.^[40]

Other artifacts excavated on site made of animal, fish, bird, and whalebone, whale and walrus ivory, and killer whale teeth included awls, needles, knives, beads, adzes, shovels, small bowls and, most remarkably, ivory pins up to 10 inches (25 cm) long.^[41] These pins are very similar to examples found in passage graves in the Boyne Valley, another piece of evidence suggesting a linkage between the two cultures.^[42] So-called Skaill knives were commonly used tools in Skara Brae; these consist of large flakes knocked off sandstone cobbles.^[43] Skaill knives are found throughout Orkney and Shetland.

The 1972 excavations reached layers that had remained waterlogged and had preserved items that otherwise would have been destroyed. These include a twisted skein of heather, one of a very few known examples of Neolithic rope^[44] and a wooden handle.^[45]

Related sites in Orkney

A comparable — if smaller — site exists at Rinyo on Rousay. Unusually, no Maeshowe-type tombs have been found on Rousay and although there are a large number of Orkney-Cromarty chambered cairns, these were built by unstan ware people.

Knap of Howar on the Orkney island of Papa Westray, is a well preserved Neolithic farmstead. Dating from 3500 BC to 3100 BC, it is similar in design to Skara Brae, but from an earlier period, and it is thought to be the oldest preserved standing building in northern Europe.^[46]

There is also a poorly excavated site at Links of Noltland on Westray that appears to have similarities to Skara Brae.^[47]

World Heritage status

"The Heart of Neolithic Orkney" was inscribed as a World Heritage site in December 1999. In addition to Skara Brae the site includes Maeshowe, the Ring of Brodgar, the Standing Stones of Stenness and other nearby sites. It is managed by Historic Scotland, whose 'Statement of Significance' for the site begins:

The monuments at the heart of Neolithic Orkney and Skara Brae proclaim the triumphs of the human spirit in early ages and isolated places. They were approximately contemporary with the mastabas of the archaic period of Egypt (first and second dynasties), the brick temples of Sumeria, and the first cities of the Harappa culture in India, and a century or two earlier than the Golden Age of China. Unusually fine for their early date, and with a remarkably rich survival of evidence, these sites stand as a visible symbol of the achievements of early peoples away from the traditional centres of civilisation.^[48]

Contemporary culture

• The children's novel Il tesoro di Skara Brae by Diletta Nicastro, is the second episode of the series The world of Mauro & Lisi, a saga set in Skara Brae and other Neolithic sites in the area.^[49]
• The children's novel The Boy with the Bronze Axe by Kathleen Fidler is set during the last days of Skara Brae.^[50]
• A stone was unveiled in Skara Brae on 12 April 2008 marking the anniversary of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbiting the Earth in 1961.^[51][52]
• Skara Brae is briefly mentioned in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, when Indiana Jones is lecturing at Marshall College at the beginning of the movie. ^[53]

See also

• Ring of Brodgar
• Standing Stones of Stenness
• Maeshowe
• World Heritage Sites in Scotland
• Timeline of prehistoric Scotland

Footnotes

References

• Beck, Roger B.; Linda Black, Larry S. Krieger, Phillip C. Naylor, Dahia Ibo Shabaka, (1999). World History: Patterns of Interaction. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell. ISBN 0-395-87274-X. 

• Buckland, Paul C.; Jon P. Sadler (2003). Insects in: Edwards, Kevin J. & Ralston, Ian B.M. (Eds) Scotland After the Ice Age: Environment, Archaeology and History, 8000 BC - AD 1000. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0-74861736-1. 

• Burl, Aubrey (1976). The Stone Circles of the British Isles. London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-30001972-6. 

• Burl, Aubrey (1979). Prehistoric Avebury. London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-30002368-5. 

• Castleden, Rodney (1987). The Stonehenge People. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.. ISBN 0-71020968-1. 

• Childe, V. Gordon (1931). Skara Brae, a Pictish Village in Orkney. meeting held in London: monograph of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. 

• Childe, V. Gordon; W. Douglas Simpson (1952). Illustrated History of Ancient Monuments: Vol. VI Scotland. Edinburgh: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 

• Childe, V. Gordon; D. V. Clarke (1983). Skara Brae. Edinburgh: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 0-11491755-8. 

• Clarke, D.V.; Sharples, Niall (1985). Settlements and Subsistence in the Third Millenium BC, in: Renfrew, Colin (Ed.) The Prehistory of Orkney BC 4000-1000 AD. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0-85224456-8. 

• Darvill, Timothy (1987). Prehistoric Britain. London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-30003951-4. 

• Fenton, Alexander (1978). Northern Isles: Orkney and Shetland. John Donald Publishers Ltd. ISBN 0-85976019-7. 

• Fidler, Kathleen (2005). The Boy with the Bronze Axe. Edinburgh: Floris Books. ISBN 9780863154881. 

• Hadingham, Evan (1975). Circles and Standing Stones: An Illustrated Exploration of the Megalith Mysteries of Early Britain. New York: Walker and Company. ISBN 0-80270463-8. 

• Hawkes, Jacquetta (1986). The Shell Guide to British Archaeology. London: Michael Joseph. ISBN 0-71812448-0. 

• Hedges, John W. (1984). Tomb of the Eagles: Death and Life in a Stone Age Tribe. New York: New Amsterdam. ISBN 0-94153305-0. 

• Keatinge, T.H.; Dickson J.H.. "Mid Flandrian Changes in Vegetation in Mainland Orkney". New Phytol 82: 585-612. 

• Laing, Lloyd (1974). Orkney and Shetland: An Archaeological Guide. Newton Abbott: David and Charles Ltd.. ISBN 0-71536305-0. 

• Laing, Lloyd & Jennifer (1982). The Origins of Britain. London: Paladin. ISBN 0-586-08370-7. 

• MacKie, Euan (1977). Science and Society in Prehistoric Britain. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-31270245-0. 

• Nicastro, Diletta (2007). Il tesoro di Skara Brae. Milano: Passepartout Edizioni. ISBN 8-89017597-4. 

• Piggott, Stuart (1954). Neolithic Cultures of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-52107781-8. 

• Ritchie, Graham & Anna (1981). Scotland: Archaeology and Early History. New York: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-50027365-0. 

• Ritchie, Anna (1995). Prehistoric Orkney. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd.. ISBN 0-71347593-5. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Skara Brae

• Historic Scotland Official Website
• Orkneyjar
• Skara Brae and its carved stone balls
• RCAHMS

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Coordinates: 59°02′55″N 3°20′35″W / 59.04861°N 3.34306°W / 59.04861; -3.34306