Skara Brae (ancient village)

Skara Brae is a well-preserved Stone Age village located on a coastal bay of the largest of Scotland's Orkney Islands. The settlement is estimated to be at least five thousand years old and may have been home to dozens of people at any given time during the six centuries it was in use. The site was uncovered in the mid-nineteenth century during a violent storm, although it was not fully excavated until decades later. The remarkable condition of Skara Brae allowed archaeologists an unprecedented view into the life of prehistoric humans. Houses were found complete with furniture, jewelry, pottery, and gaming dice. The cultural value of the village has earned it a place on the United Nations' World Heritage list. While Skara Brae has survived millennia buried beneath the Scottish sands, rising sea levels and coastal erosion loom as threats to its future.

Background

Crude stone tools found near a beach in eastern England suggest the first human ancestors lived in the region about 900,000 years ago. Changing climate conditions forced numerous migrations to and from the area before the first modern humans settled there about 8000 B.C.E. These inhabitants of early Britain were nomadic hunter-gatherers who could freely roam across a dry land bridge that connected the region to the mainland. As the glaciers from the last ice age melted, the seas began to rise. About 6000 B.C.E., Britain became an island. About two thousand years later, settlers from southern Europe arrived and introduced agriculture to the region. The hunter-gather lifestyle of the early Britons gave way to more farming-based communities, ushering in the transition to the Neolithic period.

The Orkney Islands are a windswept archipelago of about seventy islands off the northeastern coast of Scotland. Only about sixteen of the islands are inhabited. Despite being at a high northern latitude, the islands have a temperate climate thanks to the warm waters of the Atlantic Gulf Stream. It is not known when the first humans settled on the Orkneys. Archaeologists believe the islands were habitable about the same time as the rest of Britain, but only scattered evidence exists suggesting a human presence before 4000 B.C.E. The oldest surviving human dwelling, a stone farmstead at a site called the Knap of Howar, dates from about 3700 B.C.E. Numerous chambered tombs have also been found from the same period, pointing to the development of early communities.

Overview

In 1850, winds and high tides from a powerful storm tore away the grass atop an earthen mound on the western coast of the largest island in the Orkneys. The storm partially uncovered several stone buildings in the mound, known by the locals as Skerrabra. Local officials began an excavation at the site and over the next eighteen years found the remains of four more structures. The site was abandoned until 1925, when another storm damaged the houses. While building a sea wall to protect the location, construction workers found more buried structures and the area became an archaeological site. It was fully excavated by 1930.

The site was originally estimated to have been built about 500 B.C.E, but radiocarbon dating later dated it from about 3200 B.C.E. At its peak, Skara Brae consisted of ten structures and housed no more than fifty to one hundred people at any one time. The residents of each house were most likely extended families living in close quarters. Eight structures survive and are linked together by a series of covered passages. Archaeologists believe it was inhabited by humans until about 2500 B.C.E., when it was abandoned. It was eventually covered by blowing sand which kept it remarkably preserved for about five thousand years.

The houses were of the same basic design. Each consisted of one room with floor space of about 430 square feet (40 square meters). The structures were made of stones held together with an insulating material derived from household garbage. Most houses had a centrally located fireplace for warmth and two stone beds on either side of the room. The beds were most likely covered with furs, straw, or dry seaweed. The rooms also included a dresser with up to three shelves and a drainage area that was probably a form of primitive toilet. One structure near the edge of the village had a larger fireplace and no beds, suggesting it may have been used as a workshop. Archaeologists also found the remains of two human burials in one of the houses.

The house roofs did not survive, but archaeologists believe they may have been thatched with driftwood, whalebone, or turf. Among the artifacts discovered in the homes were stone tools such as pickaxes, shovels, and needles. Archaeologists also found necklaces, pendants, beads, gaming dice, and pottery shards decorated with artistic grooved patterns. While Neolithic life could often be harsh, Skara Brae seemed to be a peaceful village, because no weapons have been unearthed there.

Skara Brae was named a World Heritage Site in 1999 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The village was included with a chambered tomb called Maes Howe and two ceremonial stone circles, the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness. Together the four sites form the Heart of Neolithic Orkney. In the twenty-first century, Skara Brae has become a popular tourist destination, with almost half of the visitors to the Orkney Islands stopping at the village.

When the village was first constructed, the site was several miles from the ocean. Years of driving winds and high tides, however, have eroded much of the coastline, and the sea has crept closer to Skara Brae. The protective sea wall built in the 1920s is itself in need of repair and officials believe it may no longer be adequate to keep out the encroaching ocean. A UNESCO report issued in 2013 found that natural erosion combined with rising sea levels brought about by climate change are serious threats to the site. The organization has called for increased investment in preserving Skara Brae.

Bibliography

Brown, Craig. "Rising Sea Threatens Stone Age Village Skara Brae." The Scotsman, 20 Oct. 2013, www.scotsman.com/heritage/people-places/rising-sea-threatens-stone-age-village-skara-brae-1-3149012. Accessed 30 Apr. 2017.

"The Discovery of the Village." Orkneyjar, www.orkneyjar.com/history/skarabrae/. Accessed 30 Apr. 2017.

"Heart of Neolithic Orkney." UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org/en/list/514. Accessed 30 Apr. 2017.

Jarus, Owen. "Skara Brae: Prehistoric Scottish Village." Live Science, 28 Feb. 2014, www.livescience.com/43783-skara-brae.html. Accessed 30 Apr. 2017.

Johnson, Ben. "Prehistoric Britain." Historic UK, www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Prehistoric-Britain/. Accessed 30 Apr. 2017.

Olsen, Brad. "Skara Brae." Sacred Places Europe: 108 Destinations. CCC Publishing, 2017, pp. 55-57.

"Skara Brae Prehistoric Village." Visit Scotland, www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/skara-brae-prehistoric-village-p247671. Accessed 29 Apr. 2017.

Wickham-Jones, Caroline. Orkney: A Historical Guide, 2nd ed. Birlinn, 2015.