orcadian chronology introduction istory ... - orkney …

In "What is an Orcadian?"George Mackay Brown con-cludes by calling him, "Afine mixter-maxter!". This isliterally true, as Orkney, atthe cross-roads of theAtlantic, North Britain andthe North Sea, has been onthe seafaring map ever sincepeople started to go to sea inboats. Many visitors havecome and gone over the mil-lennia, some staying to set-tle, others leaving only theirgenes. The regular input ofnew blood and ideas hasensured that the Orcadiansare the versatile and wel-coming people of today.

After the end of the last IceAge, about 13,000 yearsago, Mesolithic nomadichunters arrived in Scotland.By 4000BC, Neolithic farm-ers were well settled inOrkney and for over 1,500years their culture flour-ished, leaving the villages,tombs and stone circleswhich we can see today andwhich are among the mostspectacular Neolithic monu-ments in Europe.

The Bronze Age succeededthe Neolithic and these peo-ples left behind burntmounds, middens, cist andbarrow graves as well asruins of small houses. Thisperiod was marked by adeterioration in climate andchanges in society as well asthe appearance of bronzetools and weapons.

About 700BC larger roundhouses started to appear andlater the spectacular brochs,some with large settlementsaround them, were devel-oped. The introduction ofiron for tools and weaponswould have been a revolu-tion in itself. From aboutAD43 and later as part of thePictish Kingdom, Orkneystarted to experience moreoutside influence: Roman,Christian and Scots.

Beginning in the 8th centurythe Scandinavians began toappear, probably not in hugenumbers at first. Large scalemigration took place duringthe 9th century, followed bythe "Golden Age of the

Vikings". The Norse domi-nation lasted six hundredyears and this influence isstill strong in the isles today.Orkney was of great strate-gic importance duringViking times, and theexploits of the Earls andtheir supporters are relatedcolourfully in theOrkneyinga Saga.

Later medieval times saw alarge influx of LowlandScots due to the close prox-imity of and then annexationby Scotland. Orkney gradu-ally became more of a back-water and suffered as aresult of exploitation byScottish Earls as well by the"Merchant Lairds". Only inthe 19th century were realfarming improvements toarrive ,when steam powerfinally made sea transportmore regular.

During the later 19th and thenthe 20th century there havebeen the effects of the boomin Herring fishing, twoWorld Wars, further greatstrides in agriculture, NorthSea Oil and the influx oflarge numbers of mainlyEnglish immigrants, withthe result that the populationdecline has now reversed.

Orkney now has a verydiverse economy, mostlystill based on its naturalassets, but increasinglydepending on the ability ofthe Orcadians to adapt totoday’s changing world, justas they have for at least thelast 6,000 years.

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Moonrise at the Ring of Brodgar

INTRODUCTION - HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

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BCc.10000 Ice retreatsc6000 Grassland, hazel-scrub, ferns

cover islandsc5000 First people arrive??3900 First known settlers

Vegetation becoming more open3800 Climate deteriorates3600 Knap of Howar oldest deposits3200 Skara Brae oldest deposits3000 Chambered Tombs being used

Ring of Brodgar, StandingStonesc.2750 Maeshowe built2700 Start of Great Pyramid Age2600 Not many trees left2500 Skara Brae last occupiedc.2000 Sandfiold cist burial

Knowes o’Trotty1300 Peat bogs developing1159 Hekla erupts700 Iron Age round houses600 Oldest Broch depositsc.325 Pytheas circumnavigates Orkney214 Great Wall of China constructed100 Broch of Gurness in useAD33 Death of Christ43 Orkney said to submit to Claudius83 Agricola's fleet said to visit Orkneyc.500 Celtic monks arrive600 Norsemen start to appear in West632 Death of Muhammad793 Major Viking raids begin800s Norse migrationc.872 Harald Fairhair King of Norway

Sigurd of Moere first Earl955 Earl Sigurd the Stout baptised 1000 Leif Ericson discovers America1014 Thorfinn becomes Earlc.1030 Earl Rognvald Brusison

first Earl to live in Kirkwalls.1035 First St Olaf’s Kirk built1065 Earl Thorfinn the Mighty dies1066 William - a French Viking takes

England1098 Magnus Barelegs expedition1115 Murder of Magnus1137 Foundation of St Magnus Cathedral1151 Magnus relics transferred to Cathedral

Earl Rognvald goes to Holy Land1171 Sweyn Asleifson killed at Dublin1188 Bjarni Kolbeinson bishop1231 Last Norse Earl dies

(John Harraldson)1263 Battle of Largs, King Haakon dies1290 Margaret, Maid of Norway, dies1300 Dutch already fishing herring1379 Earl Henry Sinclair I1380 Kirkwall Castle rebuilt1398 Henry Sinclair visits America??1468 Impignoration to Scotland

1471 Act of Annexation to Scotland1486 Kirkwall made a Royal Burgh

Cathedral to Kirkwall Corporation1492 Columbus reaches America1513 Henry Sinclair II killed at Flodden1528 Battle of Summerdale1540 King James V visits Orkney1541 Bishop Reid extends Bishop's Palace1560 Noltland Castle started for

Gilbert Balfour 1567 Norse laws ratified by

Scots Parliament1574 Earl's Palace, Birsay, built1581 Robert Stewart made Earl of

Orkney1588 Spanish survivors said to settle

in Westray1590 First inn at Stromness1600s Stronsay herring fishery

becoming important1607 Earl's Palace finished, Kirkwall1614 Kirkwall Castle besieged1615 Patrick & Robert Stewart execut-ed, Castle demolished, Cathedral saved 1633 Carrick House built1666 Great Fire of London;

Newton realises gravity of situation1679 Wreck of the Crown, Deerness1700 Hudson's Bay Company starts

to recruit Orkneymen1705 Earl's Palace ruinous1721 Kelp-making introduced to isles1725 Pirate Gowcaptured at Calf Sound1730 "Archie Angel" survives

shipwreck, Westray1743 Stromness becomes free

of Kirkwall taxes1763 Washington Irving's father

arrives New York1770 Grass, clover and turnip seeds

introduced, farming reforms1776 American Declaration of

Independence1789 First lighthouse lit on North

Ronaldsay1794 Pentland Skerries lighthouses1798 Highland Parkdistillery establishedc.1800 Ba’game takes present form1809 First Kirkwall pier built1813 Martello Towers started

Last Great Auk killed on Papay1814 Stone of Odin destroyed1830 Collapse of Kelp Boom1832 North Ronaldsay dyke built

First steamship visits Kirkwall1833 PS "Velocity" starts regular

service to Kirkwall1838 Kirkwall Gas Compamy formed1847 Balfour Castle built1850 Skara Brae revealed after storm1855 Steamer between Stromness

and Scrabster

1857 Orkney Roads act1858 Bridge at Ayre Mills closes

off Oyce1859 First "Orcadia" steamship for

North Isles1862 Maeshowe cleared out1865 Junction Road, Kirkwall, built

First steamship to North Isles1867 First Stromness lifeboat1870 J&W Tait founded1867 First Stromness lifeboat“Saltaire”1874 First Longhope lifeboat1879 Kirkwall waterworks installed1887 Stromness Herring fishery starts1890 Mermaid at Newark, Deerness1892 SS St Ola I starts her long service1908 Stromness herring boom over1913 Peak of Stronsay herring boom1914 “Electric Theatre” opens1915 First Great Skuas breed1916 HMS Hampshire sunk 1917 HMS Vanguard blows up1919 German Fleet scuttles itself1920 N Zealand Wild White Clover

introduced1937 End of Stronsay herring boom1939 World War II,

sinking of "HMS Royal Oak"1940 Work starts on Churchill Barriers1943 Italian Chapel started1947 Albert Kinema burns down1951 MV St Ola II commissioned1955 Phoenix Cinema opens1957 Lyness Base closes down1959 Russia launches first satellite1967 Loganair starts inter-island service1969 First landing on the Moon1972 Kirkwall lifeboat established1973 MV St Ola III start of ro-ro 1974 Orkney Islands Council formed1977 Flotta Oil Terminal starts up1978 Orkney Norway Friendship Assoc1987 St Sunniva starts ro-ro link

to Shetland850th anniv of St Magnus Cathedral

1991 1st edition of this guide publishedScar boat burial revealed by stormsRo-ro services to North Isles

1992 St Ola IV enters serviceOrkney Ferries fully ro-ro to Isles

1995 50th anniversary of Barriers 1997 2nd edition of Orkney Guide Book

First Atlantic oil reaches Flotta1999 Pickaquoy Centre opens2002 Northlink takes over

New pier at Hatston2004 Stromness & Kirkwall marinas

ILS at Kirkwall AirportNew Kirkwall Library

2005 3rd edition of Orkney Guide Book

ORCADIAN CHRONOLOGY

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thin, or non-existent theeffect was for the land tosink, a process which is stillhappening in Orkney today,with the result that here sealevel is several meters high-er than it was 8,000 yearsago. The probability is thusthat many coastal sites havebeen lost to the sea.

It should also be noted thatpossible Mesolithic toolsand evidence of earlier occu-pation were found at thelowest levels at severalNeolithic sites. It thusseems that human settlementin Orkney may extend backfurther than it was thought.

Neolithic Houses Thestrong similarities betweentombs and various artefactsin the North of Scotland andOrkney suggests that farm-ing arrived via Caithness,and that cultural links werewith Scotland during theNeolithic Age. Farming waswell established in Orkneyat least 6,000 years ago.One of the oldest standinghouses in Western Europe,the Knap of Howar, is on the

island of Papay and datesfrom about 3600BC. Thesettlements at Skara Brae inSandwick, Rinyo onRousay, Noltland onWestray, Pool on Sandayand Barnhouse in Stennessall date from slightly later.These are established settle-ments, built by accom-plished stonemasons and

reflect the work of a peoplewho had been settled forsome time rather than newarrivals.

The houses were quitesophisticated, being builtwith double-skinned drys-tone walls, packed betweenand surrounded on the out-side with midden. No other

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HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

Bone tools from Skara Brae

Bone jewellery from Skara Brae

Carved stone objects from Skara Brae

Large whalebone pins found at Skara Brae

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At the end of the last glacia-tion, the ice appears to havereceded first from the north-east of Scotland and theislands, where it was lessthick and melting aided bythe sea and weather. It is notclear where the first peoplearrived from, but they maywell have been sea-bornefrom Britain, Ireland,Denmark or even Norway.There are many early siteson the Scottish coast, espe-cially on the west side andon the Inner Hebrides. Theoldest so far found is fromabout 6000BC at Cramondnear Edinburgh, while thenearest to Orkney are inCaithness.

Getting around was obvious-

ly important to these peopletoo, and it is clear that theyhad access to capable boatswith which to move them-selves and their belongingsand to go fishing in deepwater. Vessels made with alight wooden keel andframes supporting a wovenframework of withies andcovered with stitched tannedleather hides were frequent-ly referred to in classicaltimes. Such boats wouldhave been seaworthy and yetlight enough to be easilyhauled up. Most important-ly all the materials neededfor their construction wereeasily obtained locally.

Most evidence from Orkneyof these Mesolithic people is

in the form of small stoneobjects that have beenfound, particularly onploughed fields. These arenearly all "microliths",which are small but careful-ly made flint tools. Manywould have been mountedon wood to make knives,scrapers, arrowheads, har-poons and other usefulthings. Mesolithic workedstone artefacts have beenfound in several locations inOrkney, but so far no settle-ment site has been excavat-ed.

The microliths so far foundinclude styles similar toScandinavian and Scottishfinds. Much further investi-gation is needed to throwlight on the situation, and ithas even been suggested thatperhaps our links withScandinavia may be olderthan we have so far thought!

Sea level rose rapidly afterthe Ice Age, but probablyreached today's level by8,000BC. The huge weightof the ice depressed the land,which rose after the glaciershad melted, a process calledisostatic rebound. Howeverwhere the glaciation was

THE FIRST SETTLERS

“Microliths” of worked flint

Grooved Ware pottery sherds in Orkney Museum Unstan Ware pottery from Isbister


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from artefacts. Barley andsome Wheat were grown,while cattle and sheep plussome pigs, goats and deerwere kept. Seabirds and fishwere also important.

In several places decorative

incised markings have beenfound which resemble wick-er baskets and the designs onpot rims. Remains of potsvaried from tiny to over60cm in diameter. Two dif-ferent types of pottery arte-facts have been found in

these Neolithic sites.

Pottery The people at theKnap of Howar in Papayused "Unstan Ware" pot-tery, named after the potsfound in Unstan ChamberedCairn in Stenness, but found


NEOLITHIC TIMELINE

BCc.11000 Orkney separated from

Scotlandc.8000 First hunter-gatherers?3600 Knap of Howaroldest date

Unstan Ware pottery3200 Stalled cairns appear

Isbister oldest dateMaeshowe tombs appearSkara Brae oldest date

3100 Knap of Howar latestQuanterness CairnGrooved Ware pottery

3000 Standing StonesQuoyness CairnSkara Brae phase II

2800 Maeshowe builtRing of Brodgar built

2600 Woodland virtually gone2500 Cairns latest date

Skara Brae latest

NEOLITHIC DOMESTICSITES TO VISIT

Stenness BarnhouseSandwick Skara BraeRousay RinyoWestray Noltland linksPapay Knap of HowarSanday Pool

Skara Brae hut 1 showing hearth, dresser, beds and stone furniture

The large house at Barnhouse is 7m by 7m internally

Knap of Howar House at Rinyo, Rousay House at Skara Brae

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similar stone houses remainin Britain, or indeed Europe,and their origin is thusobscure. However, thebuildings at the Knap ofHowar have two interestingfeatures. There is a strongresemblance in shape andinternal features with someof the early chamberedcairns, and the outline is dis-tinctly boat-shaped.

The later Neolithic housessuch as at Skara Brae have amuch more squared shape,with built-in bed spaces, and

resemble the laterMaeshowe-type tombs.Whereas elsewhere inBritain plentiful timberwould have been availablefor construction, its lack inOrkney was made up for bythe excellent building stone.Since driftwood was verylikely available in quantitythey would have had wood-en fittings, while whalebonemay also have been used forrafters. Roofs quite proba-bly used some of the boat-building tradition withwoven willow supporting a

covering of leather and turf -or even old boats!Fuel would have been ani-mal dung, seaweed, turf,driftwood, whalebone, butnot much peat as this onlystarted to develop muchlater. The houses had good,lined, drains and in SkaraBrae were equipped withcells which were very likelytoilets, store rooms orpantries. There were stone-built dressers, beds and cup-boards in the walls, as wellas a central fireplace. In allcases the quality of the stonework is very impressive. Itis easy to imagine thedomestic life of the inhabi-tants.

Above all, these people hada good and stable standardof living, and had time andenergy to build elaboratetombs like Maeshowe, aswell as henge monumentslike the Ring of Brodgar.Nothing is known of theirlanguage or culture, exceptthat which can be gleaned

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THE FIRST SETTLERS

The Knap of Howar is the oldest stone-built house in Europe

The houses at Skara Brae are joined by a central passage


land, birch-hazel scrub andferns. After the arrival ofman in about 4000 BC thiswas replaced by more openvegetation - probably due totheir grazing animals andclearing for cultivation.While there is no direct evi-dence of manuring, it is hardto believe that these peopledid not notice the beneficialeffects of dung and seaweedon the land, especially giventhe evident importance ofthe midding to them.

The vegetation changesstarted about 3800BC con-tinued for some time and by2600BC there were fewtrees left. Recent tree-ringstudies of old Irish Oakssuggest that there was a sud-den deterioration of climateduring 2354-2345, which isabout the time of the latestNeolithic dates. One theoryis that a large comet or aster-oid struck Earth at this time,causing a nine-year winter.

By 1300BC extensive peatbogs were developing, mak-ing much marginal landunworkable, and over-whelming remaining wood-land. By this time the land-scape would have been very

similar to that of the early20th century.

Chambered Cairns aretombs which are characteris-tic of Neolithic times. Theyare stone-built and typicallyhave a central chamber withan entry passage and some-times one or more cells offthe main chamber.

Orkney has a large numberof these "houses for thedead", many of which arewell preserved, and well-built. These tombs werebuilt by the Neolithic farm-ers, the oldest date inOrkney being from about

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Skull from the Tomb of the Eagles


Midhowe on Rousay is very largeDecorative stone-work resembling Unstan Ware pottery

Upper floor of Taversoe Tuick

Decorated stone from Pierowall, Westray

The Tomb of the Eagles at Isbister is also stalled, but has three side cells

in many others as well,while those at the other set-tlements used "GroovedWare". This has been takento mean that the former wasin use before latter.Evidence from the site atPool in Sanday suggests thatthere was a succession infashions in pottery over thecenturies of the Neolithicperiod rather than separatetraditions.

Burial of the dead was clear-ly taken very seriously, and atleast in some cases, excarna-tion was practised, where bod-ies were left for some time toallow the flesh to decay, andonly the bones were placed inthe tombs. Some studies ofthese bones suggest that the

people had short andunhealthy lives, but there is noevidence that this was univer-sal. The fact that they wereable to construct such elabo-rate monuments for their deadas well as impressive stonecircles suggests that their soci-

ety was prosperous and well-organised rather than primi-tive and subsistence only.There are similarities betweenpottery and other artefactsfound in Portugal, southernEngland, Ireland and Orkney,suggesting that there werecontacts with people in theseareas. Little is known aboutthe boats of the time, but ves-sels able to transport peopleand their animals across thePentland Firth or to fish off-shore would have been morethan adequate to undertakelonger journeys as well.

Climate and climatic changemay well have had a lot todo with early settlement.Analysis of pollen showsthat by about 5900BC theland was covered with grass-

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CHAMBERED CAIRNS

Unstan is a typical stalled cairn with one side cell

Unstan Ware pots - largest two from Unstan, small bowl from Taversoe Tuick

Knowe of Yarso on Rousay is a typical small stalled cairn

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(St Ola) and Howe(Stromness) and the Orkney-Cromarty type cairn atIsbister (South Ronaldsay)yielded large quantities ofhuman and animal bones,artefacts and other materialfrom which much has beendeduced about the lives ofthe people buried there. AtPierowall (Westray) a proba-ble Maeshowe-type cairnwas discovered during quar-rying, and yielded an intri-cately carved stone, now inTankerness Museum, whichhas similarities to markingsat Newgrange in Ireland.

The picture is of a hard life,with few people livinglonger than 30 years, andmost dying before 25.


The reconstructed exterior of Quoyness on Sanday showing entrance passage

Exterior of Wideford Hill cairn looking towards Finstown and Cuween cairn

The interior of Maeshowe is monumental and incorporates standing stones

CHAMBERED CAIRNSTO VISIT

This is only a selection of themost accessible and best-pre-served cairns. Others arementioned in the sections foreach parish or island.

Bookan type

Sandwick BookanRousay Taversoe TuickEday Huntersquoy

Orkney-Cromarty type

St Ola Head of WorkStenness UnstanRousay Blackhammar

Taversoe TuickMidhoweKnowe of YarsoBigland Long

Westray CottEday BraesideStronsay KelsburghSRonaldsay IsbisterHoy Dwarfie Stone

Maeshowe-type

St Ola Wideford HillStenness MaeshoweFirth Cuween HillEgilsay OnziebustPapayHolm Long CairnSanday Mount Maesry

Quoyness Eday Vinquoy Hill

3200BC, and many contin-ued in use for up to 800years before final sealing.Although there is a range ofsizes and design, there arebasically two types: whichhave been dubbed theOrkney-Cromarty Group

(OC) and the MaeshoweGroup (MH). The formertype is related to similarcairns in Caithness, whilethe latter type is unique toOrkney. In many ways thesetombs are similar to the con-temporary houses at Skara

Brae and Knap of Howar.

The OC type, of which thereare about 60 in Orkney, ischaracterised by havingupright "stalls" set into theside walls, shelves at one orboth ends as well as some-times along the sides androunded corbelling for theroofs. Low-roofed cellsoccasionally lead off themain chamber. The potterytype found in these cairnswas Unstan Ware. These arewide, round bottomed pots,which may or may not bedecorated, and are also asso-ciated with the Knap ofHowar in Papay, as well asStonehall in Firth.

The MH type have rectangu-lar chambers with high cor-belled roofs, and cells whichmay also have high roofs,but they lack the uprightstalls of the OC type. Theyalso tend to be built of largerstones, often very massiveand normally very well cutand fitted together. Thereare only 12 examples ofthese unique structures.Where pottery was present itwas always Grooved Ware,which are flat-bottomedpots, and quite distinct fromthe Unstan type. This asso-ciation is also unique.

Unfortunately most siteswere cleared out in the pastwithout the benefit of mod-ern techniques. However,several cairns were excavat-ed recently and producedmuch data. The Maeshowe-type cairns at Quanterness

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CHAMBERED CAIRNS

Side cell at Wideford Hill cairn

Cuween cairn near Finstown is built with extreme care


to have been an associationwith animals, Sea Eagles atIsbister, dogs at Burray andCuween and sheep, cattle ordeer at others. Whetherthese, together with themany pot sherds also found,are the remains of funeralfeasts or offerings to thedead is an open question. Itis interesting to note thatnicknames for people fromparticular parishes andislands are still in commonuse. Some of these may bevery ancient.

That the Neolithic peoplewent to such lengths inhousing their dead, in con-trast to later times, suggeststhat ancestors were veryimportant to them. Whilemuch has been discovered

about the material aspects ofthese people’s lives, nothinghas been revealed about therituals and social aspects oftheir life except that the verylarge effort implied in theconstruction of these monu-ments suggests that the soci-ety was well organised andhad resources beyond meresubsistence farming.

The diagrams on this pageshow the development pro-gression of chamberedcairns from the simpleBookan type, through thevarious and increasinglyelaborate stalled type to theMaeshowe type which isunique to Orkney and culmi-nated in the eponymousimpressive structure.

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Wideford Hill, St Ola

Holm of Papay South

Maeshowe, Stenness

Vinquoy, Eday


Maeshowe-type cairns havelong entrance passages, nointernal divisions and severalside cells leading off a largeand high corbelled chamber.The chambers are often alsocorbelled and can numberfrom three to fourteen. Potterywhere present was alwaysGrooved Ware

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Arthritis was common inadults, while mortality inchildhood was high. Usageof the tombs lasted for sev-eral centuries, and in the tworecent excavations partialremains of large numbers ofindividuals were buried,

with up to 400 at each ofIsbister and Quanterness.

Some cairns, such asMaeshowe, contained nobones on excavation, whilstother earlier excavationsfailed to yield the detail of

the recent work. The lack ofbones and other artefacts inmany instances may simplymean that the cairns werecleared out at someunknown time in the past.In some cairns there appears

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Blackhammar, Rousay

Unstan, Stenness

Midhowe, Rousay

Bookan, Sandwick

Bigland Round, Rousay

Huntersquoy Upper level, Eday

Yarso, Rousay

CHAMBERED CAIRNS - TYPES & DEVELOPMENT

Orkney-Cromarty type cairnsare characterised by uprightflagstone set like stalls in abyre and end compartmentsmade from large flagstones. Afew have one or more sidecells. Pottery, if present, wasalways Unstan Ware.

Bookan-type cairns arecharacterised by havinginternal divisions made ofupright flagstones. Potteryif present was Unstan Ware.This type is the least com-mon to have survived intact.

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Things are complicated bythe fact that an unknownnumber of standing stoneshave been destroyed, someby what we would nowdescribe as “frightened fer-ryloupers”. There are manypossible alignments ofmegaliths, chambered cairnsand features in the land-scape.

The Moon was also clearlyimportant in the Neolithic,as now. Predicting the tideswould have been essential,but these people also knewabout the more long termmovements of the Moon,which are generally notunderstood by today’s urbandwellers.

Apart from its monthlycycle, the Moon has a seem-ingly complex behaviourdue to the nature of its orbitaround the Earth and gravi-tational interactions betweenit, the Earth and the Sun. Asa result there are a series ofcyclical effects, the mainone being the “Major LunarStandstills”, which occurevery 18.6 years.

During the standstills atOrkney’s latitude of 59o theMoon will only rise a fewdegrees into the sky, and willskim the horizon. Seen fromthe Ring of Brodgar andfrom the Standing Stones itwill only just clear theOrphir Hills before settinginto Hoy. This very dramat-ic event would doubtlesshave formed part of theNeolithic calendar.

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STONE CIRCLES &HENGES TO VISIT

Stenness Standing StonesSandwick Ring of Brodgar

Bookan

STANDING STONESTO VISIT

Stenness WatchstoneBarnhouseOdin Stone (site of)

Harray Hinatuin StoneBirsay QuoybuneSandwick Comet StoneStromness DeepdaleRousay YetnasteenNRonaldsay HollandEday Setter StoneShapinsay Mor Stein


The Ring of Bookan has a chambered cairn on the central area

Moonrise over the Ring of Brodgar and the Loch of Harray

The Barnhouse Stone

Apart from houses andchambered cairns, theNeolithic people also erect-ed standing stones, stone cir-cles and henges. Theseremain the most impressivemonuments from this time,especially the collection ofmegaliths between theStenness and Harray Lochs.The Ring of Brodgar,Standing Stones of Stenness,and Maeshowe combinedwith outlying standingstones and associated build-

ings is perhaps the mostimpressive and yet enigmat-ic set of prehistoric monu-ments in Orkney.

Many visitors, illustrious ornot, have proposed astro-nomical alignments whichmay or may not be designed.Nearly always they havesuggested “rituals” which isarchaeological shorthand for“don’t know” and oftendivined all sorts of otherthings. What is clear is that

the Neolithic people werevery much in tune with theirenvironment which obvious-ly included the cycles of theSun and the Moon.

The movements of the Sunare reflected in midwinteralignments of the Maeshowepassage, at the Watchstoneand Brodgar and theStanding Stones, as well asmidsummer alignments atBarnhouse, Brodgar andBookan.

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STONE CIRCLES AND STANDING STONES

The Ring of Brodgar originally comprised 60 stones, of which 27 remain intact

Midwinter sunset at the Watchstone The Comet Stone and two broken stones at Brodgar


revealed a stone cist burialwith cremated bones, fourgold discs and 21 pieces ofamber from a necklace.

The gold is Scottish in ori-gin, but the amber is proba-bly from the Baltic, and mayhave been fashioned into anecklace in England as thebeads closely resemble oth-ers found in Wessex.

The gold disks were likelyused as decorative buttoncovers, most likely on thedress of an importantwoman. Excavations in2002 proved that the site isan extensive cemetery, witha Bronze Age building, cre-mation fire sites and pits andthe remains of a kerbedcairn.

During 2005 the largestmound was excavated toreveal a large and very well-built burial cist. Fragmentsof gold and amber whichwere missed in 1858 werealso found as well as cremat-ed bone which should allowaccurate dating of the cairn.

At Sandfiold near the Bay ofSkaill a large flagstone cist was

recently excavated. Inside wereseveral burials, some cremated,others not, and a large urn, dat-ing from about 2000BC. Thisunique tomb is much larger thanother cist graves and the stoneshad been very carefully cut. Itseems that it was designed to berepeatedly opened and reused.

There are well over 200 bar-rows and cairns in Orkney

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At least eight Bronze Age tumuli surround the ring of Brodgar

The cist was used in the period 2750BC to 2500BC and later about 2000BC

Large pot with cremated remains Archaeologists reveal the Sandfiold cist for the first time in 4000 years

In contrast to the spectacularmonuments of the Neolithic,the Bronze Age has not leftmany such remains to visit.Metalworking reachedBritain about 2700BC, butnone of the few bronze arte-facts found in Orkney dateto earlier than 2000BC.Copper ore does occur local-ly there is no evidence that itwas exploited at this time.

The small number of arte-facts found have seeminglyall been imported. Beakerpottery, a finer and moredecorated type characteristicof the period elsewhere, isalso rare in Orkney. Thislack of artefacts may suggestthat Orkney became rela-tively isolated from Scotlandabout this time, perhaps dueto climate changes making

life much harder. However,intriguing finds in severalgraves suggest that this isnot the whole picture.

Burial Mounds It appearsthat there was a change fromcommunal burials in cham-bered cairns to individualinterments in stone-linedcists, often then topped witha barrow of earth or a cairnof stones. There was also achange from inhumationburials to cremation.

The Knowes o’Trotty are agroup of mounds atHuntiscarth on the LydeRoad, Harray (HY343177),which form a large BronzeAge cemetery. There aretwo rows of eight or moremounds each. In 1858 exca-vation of the largest mound

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BRONZE AGE ORKNEY

Decorated gold disk found at the Knowes o'Trotty in 1858 - probably a decoration for a large button

Excavation at the Knowes o’Trotty

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Another Bronze Age housewas excavated at Tofts Nesson Sanday. This largeroundhouse also had double-skinned walls but, like laterhouses, had radial wallsinside. It had a centralhearth and well-made stonedrains. Next to it a smallerbuilding had a large stonetank. There are manymounds on Sanday, some ofwhich may be Bronze Agebarrows.

Dykes Also probably datingfrom this period are themany “treb dykes” or“gairsties” which seem todivide up the land on severalislands, including NorthRonaldsay, Sanday andWestray. Although NorthHoy is short on archaeologi-cal sites there is a fascinat-ing collection of walls andstructures under the peat inthe Whaness area below theWard Hill. Such sub-peatstructures suggest that muchremains to be discovered.

During this period there isevidence from pollen andisotopic studies that the cli-

mate became cooler andwetter, making farmingmuch harder in Orkney. Theeruption of Hekla in Icelandin 1159BC may have causeda sudden change for theworse in the weather, andfurther encouraged thedevelopment of peat in areaspreviously available forfarming, causing crop fail-ure and a sudden decline inthe population.

In such circumstances a hotbath would have been mostwelcome! Burnt mounds arevery common in Orkney andmay well have been a fash-ion of the time.

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BRONZE AGE TIME-LINE

BCc2000 Bronze Age in Orkney

Sandfiold Cist reusedClimatic deteriorationBeakers start to appearPeat starting to developKnowes o’Trotty in use

c.1200 Burnt Mounds appear1159 Hekla erupts

Sharp change in climatec.1000 Liddle house abandoned

Tofts Ness house in use

BRONZE AGE SITES TOVISIT

Stenness Tumuli at BrodgarPossible settlement

Harray Knowes of TrottyBirsay Kirbuster Hill

Ravie HillSandwick Sandfiold cistRousay Quandale burnt moundHolm of Faray HousesPapay Backaskaill burnt moundN Ronaldsay Muckle GairstaySanday Elsness Barrows

Tofts Ness houseTreb Dykes

Eday Heritage walkWarness burnt Mound

Auskerry burnt mound & housesSRonaldsay Liddle houseHoy Whaness enclosures

Geophysical survey map of possible Bronze Age house near Brodgar

Small burnt mound at Herston, South Ronaldsay


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dating from the Bronze Age.In particular several largemounds which date fromthis time in the Brodgar areasuggest that the people hadelaborate funerary rites, andperhaps continued to use theRing of Brodgar.

There are at least eight suchbarrows here, in some ofwhich cists with cremationburials were found. Recentgeophysical investigationsin this area have shown a

series of structures, some ofwhich may date from theBronze Age, including alikely figure-of-eight house -a first for Orkney.

Burnt Mounds Althoughonly a few Bronze Agehouses have so far beenexcavated in Orkney, thereare a large number of "BurntMounds" all over theislands, always near a freshwater source. These resultedfrom the use of heated

stones to boil water, and firstappear about 1200BC.

The structure at Liddle inSouth Ronaldsay gives aclear picture of the design ofsuch sites. With a lack oflarge pots or metal contain-ers, stone tanks were filledwith water, which was heat-ed using stones from thenearby hearth. After use thecharred and cracked stoneswere thrown onto a pile - the“burnt mound”.

The mounds are usuallycrescent-shaped and areprobably the accumulationof “pot-boilers” built uparound houses. Some ofthese mounds are quite largeand have substantial build-ings next to them. Thesemay have been used for spe-cial occasions rather thaneveryday things. Generallyit has been thought that thesites were used for cookingof large joints of meat forcommunal feasting, but it isalso argued that they mayhave been Bronze Age bath-houses or saunas.

The substantial house atLiddle has double-skinnedwalls and a flagstone floorwith a large hearth and hugeflagstone water trough.There are slabs set into thewalls which are too small forbeds, but just right for use asseats. Undecorated potswith flat bases were found aswell as stone ploughsharesand traces of cereal pollen.It seems this site was aban-doned about 1000BC.

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Typical burnt mound on the shore of the Loch of Stenness below Redland

Bronze Age house with associated burnt mound at Liddle, South Ronaldsay

BRONZE AGE ORKNEY


house. The two Stromnessexcavations clearly showhow there was a progressiveevolution in design until thefinal massive round tower,with surrounding settlement,was developed. These tow-ers were up to 20m in diam-eter, with walls up to 5mthick at the base. If Mousain Shetland is typical, whichit may not be, they may havebeen up to 14m high, thewalls being hollow with aninterior stairway.

The single entrance is usual-ly guarded by cells, andwould no doubt have had asubstantial door. There isevidence of one or morefloors in several, butwhether these were galleriesor not is not clear. Mostbrochs are situated in gooddefensive positions on thecoast, and in Orkney usuallyamid prime agriculturalland, but this may be coinci-dence, as not only are theremany inland brochs, but oth-ers probably occupied siteswhich are now modernfarms.

That they were primarilydefensive structures seemsclear - the massive construc-tion, ditches and rampartswere not just for show.However the presence ofcontemporary houses sug-gests that they were oftenthe centre of a whole com-munity. In cases where nodomestic buildings sur-rounded them, as at The Bu,they must have been veryimposing farmsteads.

The radiocarbon dates fromBu of Cairston imply anearly date of about 600BC,suggesting that roundhouseswere already being develop-ing into “protobrochs” bythis time. One theory is that

brochs are a local product,which developed quicklyfrom roundhouses - in them-selves perhaps the truearchitectural innovation ofthe early Iron Age.

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Aerial view of Howe Broch during excavation with surrounding settlement

Neolithic chambered cairn with a very finely-built passage under Howe Broch

The souterrain under the Howe Broch

Brochs (ON Borg, strong-hold) are a type of buildingunique to Scotland, especial-ly the north, and of whichthere are over 100 examplesin Orkney. Most of thebrochs which have beenexcavated were cleared outin the 19th century, but recentexcavations of the round-houses at Quanterness (StOla), Pierowall (Westray),Tofts Ness (Sanday) and Buof Cairston (Stromness), and

of the brochs at Howe(Stromness) and OldScatness (Shetland), com-bined with a reappraisal ofsites such as Gurness (Evie)and Midhowe (Rousay),have thrown much light onthe subject.

About 700BC a new type ofhouse appeared, typified bythose at Jarlshof and OldScatness in Shetland and inthe Western Isles, but also

now shown to have beenbuilt in Orkney. These werelarge and well-built, withoccupation continuing for atleast 500 years. They repre-sent a sharp contrast to thepreceding millennium, fromwhich domestic buildingremains are sparse.Unfortunately none of theseinteresting Orkney ruins isable to be viewed, as theywere all back-filled afterexcavation. It may be thatthe appearance of the round-houses reflects changes else-where in Scotland, whichhad reached Orkney. In par-ticular the destruction exca-vation at Howe revealedmuch about the developmentof these interesting struc-tures.

Brochs were developed inthe late Iron Age as the ulti-mate version of the round-

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BROCHS AND IRON AGE ORKNEY

Aerial view of the Broch of Gurness showing the surrounding settlement, banks and ditches

Excavations at the Bu of Cairston revealed a large roundhouse


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IRON AGE TIMELINE

c.700 Iron Age beginsRoundhouses appearQuanterness roundhouseEarliest dates at Howe

c.600 Pierowall roundhouseEarth-houses appearBu roundhouse earliest

c.325 Pytheas' voyagec.300 Howe "pre-broch"c.200 Brochs fully developed

Howe, Gurness, MidhoweAD Roman artefacts in brochsc.100 Brochs in decline

BROCHS TO VISIT

These are a small selection of themany broch sites in Orkney.Others are mentioned in the sec-tions for each parish or island.

St Ola Lingro (remains)Berstane

Firth FinstownIngashowe

Rendall TingwallEvie Gurness

BurgarBirsay OxtroSandwick Borwick

StackrueStromness BrecknessDeerness Dingeshowe

Eves HoweRousay MidhoweWestray Queenahowe

BurristaeN Ronaldsay BurrianStronsay Lamb Ness

BaywestShapinsay BurroughstoneBurray NorthfieldS Ronaldsay Howe of HoxaS Walls Hestigeo

OTHER IRON AGESITES TO VISIT

St Ola Grain Earth HouseHarray RusslandFirth RennibisterEarth HouseSandwick Brough of BiggingTankerness MinehoweWestray Knowe of SkeaEday Linkataing roundhouseSanday Tafts NessShapinsay BurroughstonS Ronaldsay Castle of Burwick

Grain Earth House, a souterrain at Rennibister, Firth

Headed pin from Howe Broch

Insect brooch from Howe Broch

Woven heather from Howe Broch

Tweezers from Howe Broch

Site plan of the Broch of Lingro, destroyed in the 1980s by a farmer

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Similarly the Howe excava-tion, during which the brochwas totally destroyed,revealed a whole unexpectedsequence of occupation froman early Iron Age round-house, itself built on theremains of a Neolithic tomb,through to the final broch atabout 200BC or earlier.

Recent work at Old Scatnesssuggests that the broch theremay date from 400BC, amuch earlier date than previ-ously envisaged for suchstructures. Thus it appearsthat the brochs were in exis-tence well before theRomans reached Scotland.

By AD100 the Bu round-house had fallen out of use,perhaps after a disastrousfire, and the later houseswere of much poorer quality.Although the Greek explor-er, Pytheas is said to havecircumnavigated Orkneyabout 325BC, noMediterranean artefactshave been found from thisearly. Roman artefacts wereonly present from about the1st century AD, suggesting

that the idea that Orkneywas subdued by Agricola inAD83 may not be just leg-end. The discovery of frag-ments of Roman amphoraeat Gurness and pottery atMidhowe could strengthenthis view, but these artefactscould just as easily havecome to Orkney by way oftrade, perhaps after passingthrough several hands on theway.

The Broch of Gurness con-veys a strong sense ofgrandeur, with its still-impressive tower, rampartsand house ruins. The site isone of the most impressivebrochs and, with occupationover nearly 1,000 years, hasIron Age, Pictish and early

Norse connections.

Little is known of the peoplewho inhabited the brochs.They may have been descen-dants of the first settlers,who developed the societythemselves, or they mayhave been influenced by(Celtic?) ideas or incomers.Their boats would certainlyhave been very seaworthy,and they made contact withthe Roman world accordingboth to classical authors andartefacts found at the Brochsof Gurness and Howe.

Earthhouses Another inter-esting development startingabout 600BC, is theEarthhouse, or souterrain.Typical examples are atRennibister (Firth) andGrain (Hatston). Theseunderground structures arethought to have been usedfor storage, and probablyformed cellars to long-disap-peared roundhouses. Therewas a similar structure underthe broch at Howe. Thesuperficial resemblance tochambered cairns is proba-bly more to do with commonmaterials than anything else.

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BROCHS AND IRON AGE ORKNEY

Interior of Midhowe Broch, Rousay

Borwick Broch is north of Yesnaby


The Knowe of Skea is situ-ated on a small headland offBerstness, Westray and is indanger from coastal erosion.It contains a large roundbuilding with a rectangularinterior and very thick walls.There were stone box bedsand a central hearth but littlepottery or refuse, suggestingthat the place may have reg-ularly been cleared out.

There are several associatedsmall buildings, in whichwere buried over 100 indi-viduals, including a largenumber of infants. Two ofthese structures were metal-working workshops similarto the one at Minehowe. Amould found in one matchesa pin found with one of theskeletons, suggesting thatthe metalworking was insome way related to use ofthe place as a cemetery.

There are may be a Neolithicchambered cairn under thelarge building, while BronzeAge burials were also pres-ent, suggesting that the sitemay have been used as acemetery for a long time.The headland overlooks theWestray Firth with its strong

tides and good fishing, whilethe associated settlement isthought to lie behind thenearby farm of Langskaill.There is another probablechambered cairn on the topof nearby Berstness.

Iron Age burials have untilnow been almost unknown,

but work at these two siteshas already shown that thismay be due to lack of dis-covery rather than sites.Hitherto the period has beenall about brochs and round-houses, but now it may soonbe possible to add moredetails to these people.

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Metalworking workshop at Minehowe

One of the many Iron Age burials at the Knowe of Skea, Westray

Knowe of Skea excavations, Westray

Minehowe Iron Age furnace

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Minehowe The mound nowknown as Minehowe wasfirst cleared out in 1946, butwas reopened in 1999. It isa well-like stone structurewith 29 steps, which was

built into the mound in IronAge times. During the earli-er excavations stone objectsand bones were found, butthey have not been pre-served. Minehowe echoes

similar stairways and wellsin some of the brochs, aswell as souterrains but itspurpose remains obscure.

The mound is covered by adeep ditch, with stone revet-ting and an entrance cause-way on the west side. Majorexcavation work over thelast few years have revealedthat the area was importantduring the late Iron Age as ametalworking site. A fur-nace, kilns and cruciblesassociated with copper orbronze working as well as asteatite ingot mould havebeen found. The substantialfurnace is high up on themound perhaps to aiddraught.

There were two burials, oneof a young baby and anotherof a woman in her 20s. Thewoman was buried under thefloor of the "metalworkingworkshop" while the build-ing was still in use. Thebody was buried on its backwith a piece of deer skulldrilled with six holes andbronze rings on the feet.Iron Age burials are rare inOrkney, making this discov-ery particularly interesting.

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IRON AGE ORKNEY - METALWORKING & DEATH

Corbelled roof of lower chamber

Minehowe interior looking up lowers stairs from bottom

Excavations in progress at Minehowe


proved indecipherable,although this may soonchange.

In AD43 Orkney leaderssubmitted to Claudius andreference is made to Islandsof the Picts . The Romansreturned again in AD83when Agricola specificallysent his fleet to “subdueOrkney”. The implication isthat Orkney was a regionallyimportant centre of power,as the Romans would bevery unlikely to waste theirresources unless some threatwas posed. It is interestingthat the decline of the brochsoccurs at about the sametime. This of course may allbe Roman propaganda. TheRomans wanted everyoneelse to believe that they hadconquered everything.Without hard evidence theseClassical references must bein doubt.

It is likely that the origins ofthe Picts in Orkney go atleast as far back as the earlyIron Age and perhaps furtherstill, with continuity of set-

tlement the main theme.The sea would have beenvery important both for foodand raw materials, as well asfor communications. Nodoubt there were accom-plished seamen and goodboats. The incursions of theRomans at the height of thedevelopment of the Brochsculture may well have stim-ulated a common purposebetween the various tribes,who then became what theRomans called the Picti,causing the tribal groupingsof the 1st century to becomethe Picts of the 4th century.

Orkney has long been heldto be “the Cradle of thePicts", and there have beensuggestions that Orkneymenwere involved in slave trad-ing and head hunting fromearly times. However themain Pictish centres ofpower were in the Invernessarea, where they had a largefort at Burghead, and inAngus. The "Picts" inOrkney were probablydescendants of the earlierpopulation, enriched by

Celtic immigrant blood,rather than true Picts.

The Pictish Kingdom gradu-ally developed and becamemore centralised, with aprobable loss of power andprestige on the part of theOrkney chiefs. By StColumba s time the northernPicts were becomingChristian, but Orkney con-

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Cross-incised stone, Brough of Birsay

Stone with carved feet, St Mary's Kirk, Burwick, South Ronaldsay

Cross-slab from St Boniface, Papay

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Although often called theDark Ages, the first millen-nium AD was in fact a timeof great change and develop-ment, with not least the

Roman invasion, the force-ful spread of Christianity,the emergence of local,regional, and finally nationalpower. The Pictish influ-

ence was felt in Orkney, tobe followed by Norse domi-nation by the end of the mil-lennium. The people ofOrkney probably continuedwith their pastoral agricul-ture and fishing as previous-ly, but much improved shipsallowed more contact withthe outside world, and cer-tainly by the 8th centurymany families were living inremarkably good houseswith a reasonable standardof life.

The Picts were first men-tioned by Eumenius in AD297, as Picti. Their ances-tors were also earlierreferred to by Pytheas as"Pretani". He also calledthe headland facing OrkneyCape Orcas. The Pretaniare said to be one of the firstCeltic tribes to arrive inBritain and seem to be con-nected with the Picts. Celticpeople thus seem to havebeen living in the north ofScotland at least as early asthe fourth century BC.

Irish legend refers to thePicts as Cruithni - descen-dants of a king calledCruithne and his seven sons.They were a Celtic peoplewho inhabited Northern andEastern Scotland, who spokea form of Brittonic Celtic,and who left numeroussculptured symbol stones,some houses and forts, butvirtually no language apartfrom some place names. Aform of Irish Ogam scriptwas used, but most of theinscriptions have so far

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THE PICTS IN ORKNEY

Pictish stone, Brough of Birsay (replica)


There are several Papanames (Papdale, PapaWestray, Papa Stronsay,Paplay), indicating siteswhere Christian “Papae”were living when the Norsearrived. No doubt therewere so dubbed by theVikings because of the pres-ence of these monks

Many chapel sites predatethe Viking settlement,including St Boniface andthe Brough of Birsay, aswell as a good number dedi-cated to St Peter, suggestingthat they may have been inuse by the general popula-tion as well. Many laterchurches are built over earli-er Christian sites.

Recent excavations have

revealed much about Pictishbuildings. In particular atBuckquoy (Birsay) and atSkaill (Deerness) housesfrom the 7th & early 8th cen-turies show that some of thePicts lived in substantialdwellings, grew oats andbere, raised cattle, sheep andpigs. They also fished

extensively offshore, show-ing that they had seaworthyboats. There was some com-munication with the outsideworld as shown by artefacts.The Brough of Birsay hasconsiderable pre-Norsestructures also, and is theonly place where Pictishstructures are now visible,

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INTRODUCTION - HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

Spindle whorl from Buckquoy

Reconstructed Pictish house interior, Broch of Gurness

Carding combs from Buckquoy

Iron Age comb Pictish-style comb from Buckquoy

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tinued to be the subject ofattacks from both Scots andPicts, suggesting that con-siderable local powerremained. By the mid 8thcentury the Picts and Scotshad been unified underKenneth mac Alpin and theNorthern Isles were alreadyunder Norse threat.

There has been speculationthat Christianity may itselfhave caused much of thedownfall of Pictish power.Inheritance seems to havefollowed the female line, atleast for the kings. Many ofthe beliefs of Pictish societyas deduced from the symbolstones, were quite differentto Christian thinking -

implying that Christianitymight have been quite aliento the Picts. Finally theincreasing numbers of paganNorse raiders and settlersmay well have exploited thedisintegrating society, andtaken over easily.

Although the OrkneyingaSaga makes no mention ofthe Picts, it neverthelessrefers to the Pentland Firthas Peetalands Fjordur -Fjord of Pictland. In addi-tion such names asPickiequoy and Quoypettiesuggest Picts. The vastmajority of place names inOrkney are derived fromOld Norse, but there remainseveral which may derive

from the old Celtic lan-guage. These include Airy,Knucker Hill, Kili Holm,Egilsay, Cantick Head, andperhaps even the Old Man(of Hoy).

Old dialect words such asdiss (small stack), kro (smallenclosure), keero (nativesheep), rental (as in rig-garental) and treb (as in trebdyke) might come from theold Pictish language. Inaddition the Moon was mas-culine in the Norn - the OldNorse language spoken inOrkney until a few hundredyears ago. This is mostunusual, and perhapsreflects the Pictish form.However equally well theseforms may derive from laterScots Gaelic.

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Bone pins from Buckquoy

Razor found at Howe Broch, Stromness Quartz pebble with painted black spots

THE PICTS IN ORKNEY

Reconstructed Pictish house from the entrance, Broch of Gurness

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TIMELINE - PICTSAD43 Orkney said to submit to

Claudius - “Islands of the Picts”84 Agricola invades Scotland83 Mons Graupius campaign

Roman fleet “subdues Orkney”c.100 Start of decline of brochsc.117 Hadrian's wallc.139 Antonine Wallc.150 Ptolemy’s map compiled

from Agricola’s campaign208-211 Severus campaigns in

Scotland297 Eumenius mentions two

tribes of Picti in North BritainSouthern British pacified

306 Constantius campaigns313 Romanized Britons in

lowlands becoming Christian367 Picts breach Hadrian's Wallc.400 Hadrian's Wall abandonedc.561 King Bridei receives

Columba near Inverness, OrkneyPictish king present

564 Orkney hostages inInverness to guarantee safepassage to missionaries

580 Dalriada expedition by seaagainst Orkney

600s First Orkney Pictish housesites known

c.680 Symbol stones erectednow till end of Pictish Kingdom

682 Pictish king Bridei mac Bilelays Orkney waste

685 Northumbrians defeated715 Nechtan transfers bishopric

from Iona to NorthumbriaSt Boniface leads mission to

his court, story of St TredwellEstablishment of St Peter

churches, often near old brochs741 Dalriada defeats Picts under

King Oengus742 Norsemen attack Pictish fort

at Burgheadlate 700s Pictish hoards at

Burgar Broch & St Ninian s IsleNorse raids increasing,settlement begun

800 Norse settlement in Orkneycomplete

839 Norsemen defeat King ofPicts, Uuen, son of Oengus

843 Unification of Picts & Scotsunder Kenneth mac Alpin of

Dalriada, End of Pictish Kingdom

PICTISH SITES TOVISIT

Kirkwall Orkney MuseumBirsay Brough of Birsay

Point of BuckquoyBurgar Broch

Evie Broch of GurnessSandwick Knowe of VerronDeerness SkaillPapay St Boniface

St TredwellsPapa Stronsay St Nicholas ChapelN Ronaldsay Burrian BrochS Ronaldsay Old St Mary s

St Peter’s, East Side

Carved bone from N Ronaldsay

Ogam-inscribed stone from Pool inSanday, transliterates to “RV AVORC” which can be expanded to“HROLVR AV ORCNEIUM” or“Hrolf from the Orkneys”

Symbol stone removed from St Peter’s Kirk, South Ronaldsay


PICTISH SYMBOLSTONES IN ORKNEY

Kirkwall Orkney MuseumEdinburgh National Museum

ORIGINAL SOURCESFirth RedlandEvie Aikerness BeachBirsay Brough of BirsayHarray Knowe of BurrianHolm GraemeshallDeerness SkaillPapay St BonifaceN Ronaldsay Burrian BrochPapa Stronsay Old ChurchBurray BrochS Ronaldsay St Peter’s KirkFlotta Altar frontSouth Walls Osmondwall

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apart from the Pictish housesat the Broch of Gurness.

The suggestion is that theBrough was both a monasticand secular site, where the"Papae" ministered to thespiritual needs of the people,while skilled craftsmen dealtwith the more materialaspects. Evidence that thesite was monastic is limitedto a few artefacts, such as aCeltic bell fragment, butthere is proof of consider-able bronze casting opera-

tions during the 8th centuryin the area of the Pictishwell. Many intricate mouldswere found, suggesting thatBirsay may have been animportant centre for crafts-men at that time. On theother hand the moulds maybe nothing more than theproducts of an itinerant arti-san.Several symbol stones havebeen found in Orkney. Thereplica of the Birsay stone atthe Brough is the most spec-tacular, but another eight

have been found in Orkney.The spectacular Flotta crossis in Edinburgh and someothers have been lost. TheBurrian Cross is inEdinburgh, but the BurrianEagle may be seen in theOrkney Museum.

Several Ogam inscriptionshave been found in Orkney.These enigmatic rune-likemessages have so far defeat-ed linguist’s attempts attranslation, but recently per-suasive work suggests thatmany are in fact in OldNorse and can be logicallytransliterated.

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Symbol stone from Osmondwall, Hoy Excavations in progress at Skaill, Deerness on a Pictish farm

Pictish Eagle found at the Knowe of Burrian, Harray in 1936

THE PICTS IN ORKNEY

Pictish symbols on bone, Burray

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