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Skara Brae is a well-preserved Neolithic stone village in Scotland, discovered in the 1850s and excavated by archaeologists in 1928. The settlement consisted of 10 circular houses with central hearths, stone furniture, and a basic plumbing system. The houses were surrounded by insulating layers of waste and were fairly equal in size and comfort, suggesting equality among residents. The builders demonstrated great planning and early plumbing skills. The residents were farmers with livestock and their diet consisted of grains, deer, fish, and shellfish. The reason for the abrupt abandonment of the settlement around 2500 BC remains a mystery. Skara Brae is a popular tourist destination in Orkney.
Skara Brae is the most complete Neolithic stone village of its kind in Scotland, offering invaluable insight into life during the period 3100 to 2500 BC. Situated on the west coast of the windswept island of Orkney, Skara Brae is virtually unrivaled in how well it has been preserved from sediment and how it was planned and built as a settlement during that time.
Skara Brae was discovered in the 1850s when severe storms eroded grass and sediment from buildings that had been carved into mounds. The initial dig was started and abandoned within a few years until Vere Gordon Childe, an Australian archaeologist, resumed the dig in 1928, which lasted for two years. What was discovered at Skara Brae would have answered questions archaeologists have been pondering for years, leaving even more unanswered.
The settlement consisted of 10 buildings clustered on a hill. Winding, covered passageways wound between the houses; their main entrance features a lockable door to protect the inhabitants from bad weather or enemies. The houses were built on the same basic plan: they were circular in shape, with a central hearth, stacked stone chest of drawers, or shelving on the wall opposite the entrance, and bed ‘boxes’ carved out of the side walls. All the houses had basically the same furniture built with flat, stacked stones.
Orkney’s winters are cold and Skara Brae was built to protect its inhabitants from the elements while they were in their homes and as they moved about the settlement. Insulating layers of “midden” which were essentially waste, surrounded and covered the houses. Interestingly, all the houses were fairly equal in size, comfort, and furnishings, suggesting that the residents were considered equal.
The builders of Skara Brae demonstrated great planning and some early plumbing skills as well. The rudimentary drainage system provided each house with a basic toilet and holding tank for water. The village even had an extra building with apparently work stations for making tools like flint axes and bone needles.
Skara Brae residents were farmers with livestock. Their diet apparently consisted of grains that were raised, deer, fish and shellfish. It remains a mystery why the settlement appears to have been abruptly abandoned around 2500 BC. This mystery, coupled with the site’s outstanding conservation, makes Skara Brae a popular Orkney tourist destination.
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