2016

HY2318 : Skara Brae - Dwelling No.3

taken 8 years ago, near to Aith, Mainland, Orkney Islands, Scotland

Skara Brae - Dwelling No.3
Skara Brae - Dwelling No.3
Dwelling number 3 is the smallest on the site, I think that this may have been the house that was partly swept out to sea in the storm of 1924 which prompted the belated protection of the site.
Neolithic Orkney - Skara Brae

Skara Brae is one of the World's most remarkable ancient historical sites and is Northern Europe's best preserved Neolithic village. It is over 5000 years old, making it older than the pyramids at Giza.
It is located on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney and was discovered after a severe storm in 1850 when the powerful weather stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll known as "Skerrabra". William Watt of Skaill, the local laird, carried out an initial amateur excavation over the next few years, but then work was abandoned. Unfortunately in 1913 the site (which had had no further examination) was plundered and an unknown quantity of irreplaceable artefacts were removed never to be recovered. Another storm in 1924 damaged the site, and it was belatedly decided that the site should be protected and investigated. Professor V. Gordon Childe of Edinburgh University commenced the first proper archaeological investigation in 1927.
Childe estimated the date of the dwellings to be c.500BC, but radio-carbon dating after new excavations in 1972–73 revised this date dramatically back to c.3180 BC with human habitation here for the next 600 or so years.
Despite the plundering of 1913, many artefacts have been recovered revealing information about the people who lived here and their handicraft and designs. The most remarkable thing about the site however is the view it gives us into the homes of these ancient people, with their stone-built 'cupboards', bed areas and other fitments.
There is plenty of information on the web about Skara Brae - here are a few useful links:
CANMORE website: LinkExternal link
UNESCO World Heritage Site: LinkExternal link
HES (Visiting info): LinkExternal link
WIKIPEDIA LinkExternal link
Plan photo: HY2318 : Skara Brae - Plan on plinth

Skara Brae

The Neolithic village of Skara Brae was inhabited for some six centuries, starting over 5000 years ago, meaning that it is older than the Pyramids of Egypt and most ancient Greek and Roman sites. It consists of a number of single-roomed houses linked by a roofed passage so that the occupants could move around under shelter. One building, however, may have been used as a workshop. The site is significant because it shows how ordinary people lived rather than being a structure devoted to ceremonial purposes, like a temple.

Each house has a central hearth and a cupboard built of stone slabs. Various recesses line the walls of each house, possibly used as sleeping accommodation or storage. Some have drains, and may have been used as latrines.

The village was surrounded by farmland, and the villagers grew crops and kept livestock. They also had time for creative activities, such as making jewellery and pottery.

The excellent state of preservation of the site is because it was buried under sand for millennia, until exposed again by a storm in 1850.


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HY2318, 269 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Rob Farrow   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Tuesday, 6 September, 2016   (more nearby)
Submitted
Thursday, 26 August, 2021
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! HY 2313 1875 [10m precision]
WGS84: 59:2.9276N 3:20.4980W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! HY 2313 1875
View Direction
SOUTH (about 180 degrees)
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Image Type (about): close look 
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