Photos and the City

Author: Ursula Schmitz

Ring of Brodgar

The Ring of Brodgar is one of the biggest stone circles in the UK – it is only one of two in the Ness of Brodgar, the heart of the Neolithic Orkney.

The 27 remaining stones have a height between 2 metres to almost 5 metres and form a circle with a diameter of 103.6m. Once there probably stood 60 stones in this circle.

The Ring of Brodgar was surrounded by a ditch that used to be a few metres deep and accessible via two causeways and probably dates from between 3000BC and 2500BC.

The Ness of Brodgar was a meeting and a ceremonial place – surrounded by hills this land between the two lochs feels like a natural amphitheatre.

The Ring of Brodgar may have been involved in ceremonies celebrating the relationship between living and past communities. It’s also been suggested that the sites in the surrounding area were used for observations of the moon from the Ring of Brodgar,
(Historic Environment Scotland)

The Ring of Brodgar is right in the Heart of the Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site. Besides the Ring, the site also includes Maeshow, Skara Brae and the Ring of Stenness and the adjacent standing stones. The Ring of Brodgar is the youngest built and was built about 500 years later than the other ones.

The stones came from seven different quarries in Orkney and it is believed they were transported on a bed of algae.

It is a beautiful walk around the area, there are also 13 burial mounds. And as there is so much more to see at the Ness of Brodgar I came back a few days later.

12/05/2022
Skaill House

It was the owner of Skaill House, William Watt, the Laird of Breckness, who discovered Skara Brae in 1850 after a big storm. Watt was an ambitious hobby archaeologist and started the excavation of the Neolithic settlement. He unearthed four of the buildings.

After visiting Skara Brae I also did a walk around Skaill House, right next to the settlement. Skaill House is a stunning 17th-century mansion in Orkney with beautiful views all around.

Overlooking the spectacular Bay of Skaill, the house was originally built in 1620 by Bishop Graham and has been added to by successive Lairds over the centuries. (Orkney.com)

The house was opened to the public in 1997 after a careful restoration and resembles the family home from the 1950is.

Captain Cook’s dinner service, Neolithic and Iron Age finds, Stanley Cursiter paintings, the Bishop’s original bed, and many other items of interest collected by the twelve Lairds of Skaill can be seen around the house. (Orkney.com)

Entry to Skaill House is included with the entry to Skara Brae, or if you´re a member of Historic Environment of Scotland the entrance is free, but I would recommend booking a slot for your visit.

10/05/2022
Skara Brae

In 1850 a storm uncovered something truly special lying under the sand dunes next to Skaill beach in Orkney: Skara Brae – a Neolithic settlement.

The Neolithic village of Skara Brae was discovered in the winter of 1850. Wild storms ripped the grass from a high dune known as Skara Brae, beside the Bay of Skaill, and exposed an immense midden (refuse heap) and the ruins of ancient stone buildings. The discovery proved to be the best-preserved Neolithic village in northern Europe. And so it remains today. (Visit Scotland)

This revealed the outline of a number of stone buildings – something that intrigued the local laird, William Watt, of Skaill, who embarked on an excavation of the site.

In 1868, after the remains of four ancient houses had been unearthed, work at Skerrabra was abandoned. The settlement remained undisturbed until 1925, when another storm damaged some of the previously excavated structures. (Orkney Jar)

Skara Brae was inhabited around 5000 years ago – even before the pyramids or Stonehenge were built and thanks to being buried under the sand for around 4000 years it is very well preserved and gives us a glimpse of life back in the Neolithic age.

Original an inland settlement next to a freshwater loch Skara Brae consists of 10 stone structures. All of them are well built with flat stones (slap stones), set in the middle of a mould and all of them are connected by covered passageways.

Each house has one room, around 40 square meters, with fitted stone furniture, like shelves, dressers, beds, fireplace and tanks in the floor.

There is one bigger structure without beds which might have been a workshop or meeting place.

The villagers were farmers, hunters and fishermen who were able to produce beautiful and complex items using basic tools. (Historic Enviroment Scotland)

Each house was constructed along the same design and many have the same sort of furniture and the same layout of the rooms. The village had a drainage system and even indoor toilets. (Worldhistory)

Skara Brae has probably abandoned around 2500 BC when the weather became colder and wetter. There were also theories that there was a storm which made the inhabitants leave quickly, but others disagree.

Like the Broch of Gurness, it is a fascinating step back in time.

05/05/2022