History
By Catherine Rose
The History of Skara Brae Situated along the coast at the Bay of Skaill, roughly between Stromness and Birsay on the little Scottish island of Orkney, stand the ruins of a Neolithic village called Skara Brae. A UNESCO World Heritage site managed by Historic Scotland, it is the most well-preserved village of its age in Europe.
The ancient site of Skara Brae is approximately 5,000 years old and so well preserved that it is possible to get a real and rare glimpse into how our ancient ancestors lived in 3000 BC – long before even Stonehenge and the Pyramids of Giza were built. Ten dwellings have been uncovered at Skara Brae, and eight of them were apparently homes. When the village was first built, the houses would not have been on the coast as they are today, but some distance inland. Coastal erosion over the centuries means that they now overlook the beach. The village was inhabited between 3100 BC and 2500 BC probably by successive generations of families, until it was abandoned. Although it has been dubbed the ‘Pompei of Scotland’, it is unlikely that a catastrophic event occurred which led to its abandonment and subsequent preservation, as no skeletons have been unearthed there, suggesting that the lifestyle of its people gradually changed and they eventually decided to move on elsewhere.
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It is recorded that the village was discovered after a particularly bad storm on Orkney in 1850. The storm washed away a large sand mound called Skerrabra, which was hiding a group of immaculately preserved circular stone structures complete with beds and other stone furnishings still intact inside. William Watt, the landowner, who was living at Skail House nearby, began excavations and on realising the importance of the find contacted George Petrie, the island’s well-known antiquarian. All the finds at the site were subsequently meticulously catalogued and included beads, tools (particularly knives and scrapers) and objects that historians have only been able to speculate on but were possibly either devotional or recreational. A set of what look like dice were amongst the discoveries. All the objects were carved or made from stone, bone, tusks, animal teeth and wood. There was also pottery. Petrie eventually abandoned the excavations and, following looting and weather damage, the site was taken under the protection of the Ministry of Works in the 1920s. Initially it was believed that Skara Brae was a Pictish village. However, radiocarbon dating in the 1970s identified it as being much older, confirming that it was constructed during the Neolithic Period (or New Stone Age).
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