t ha n o · 2012. 12. 19. · without a good knowledge of the tides, skerries and weather patterns...

1st Edition

The

Heart of

Neolithic

OrkneyMini Guide

by Charles Tait

ISBN 9780951785xxx

neolithic minguide 2012_Miniguide 02/02/2012 21:02

1st EditionISBN 9780951785xxx

CONTENTSWelcome to Neolithic Orkney 2

The First Settlers 6Houses for the Dead 12Standing Stones & Circles 18Neolithic Art, Pottery & Tools 26

Heart of Neolithic Orkney 30Skara Brae 32Ring of Brodgar 40Ness of Brodgar 44Standing Stones 48Maeshowe 52Barnhouse, Unstan and Bookan 60

Further Reading 64Index 64

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced in any form, stored in aretrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recordingor otherwise (except for the purpose of bona fide review) without the prior written permission of the pub-lisher. The author has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998 to be identifiedas the author of this work.

The Orkney Mini Guide1stEdition

Published by Charles Tait Kelton, St Ola, Orkney KW15 1TR

Tel 01856 873738 Fax 01856 [email protected] charles-tait.co.uk

This book is dedicated to my grandfather,Charles William Tait (188-1967)

who introduced me to the Maeshowe winter sunset

Text, design and layout © copyright Charles Tait 2012Photographs © copyright Charles Tait 1975-2012

Old Photographs from Charles Tait collectionPrinting by Kine Italia, Italy

OS maps reproduced from Ordnance Survey mapping with permissionof the Controller of HMSO, © Crown Copyright Reserved 100035677

The

Heart of NeolithicOrkney

Mini Guide

by Charles Tait

neolithic minguide 2012_Miniguide 02/02/2012 21:02

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is guide covers all of the main monu-ments which are part of the nominatedsite, as well as many of the associatedcontemporary places of interest. e vil-lage of Skara Brae, stone circles of theRing of Brodgar and the Standing Stonesof Stenness and Maeshowe chamberedcairn are described in depth.

e major settlements at Barnhouse andNess of Brodgar both show that muchremains to be discovered about NeolithicOrkney. Isolated standing stones, such asthe Watchstone, chambered cairns, suchas Unstan and more enigmatic sites, forexample the Ring and Cairn of Bookanare also included.

e Neolithic Timeline, opposite, setsthe Orkney period in a European con-text. People first reached Orkney withinabout 4,000 years of the end of the lastIce Age. By 4000BC they were well set-tled here, farming livestock, growingcrops, fishing and building comfortabledwellings. ey also created elaboratehouses for their dead, large stone circlesand immense buildings which are onlynow coming to light.

e maps included here are sufficient tolocate all of the places described, but theOrdnance Survey 1:50,000 sheet 6(Orkney - Mainland) or the 1:25,000sheet 463 (Orkney - West Mainland) areessential visitors’ tools. e Orkney GuideBook, 4th edition, by the same author de-scribes the whole archipelago in detail.

UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE

NEOLITHIC ORKNEY e term“Neolithic” (Greek neos, new and lithos,stone) was coined by Sir John Lubbockin 1865. It covers the period fromc.10000-2000BC during which agricul-ture, buildings, settlements, writing,weaving, pottery making and much elsedeveloped. From the first domesticatedcrops being grown in the Middle Eastaround 10000BC to the oldest knownhouse in Orkney is about 6,000 years.

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Today Orkney retains a vast archaeolog-ical treasury of buildings, artefacts andevidence from this time. In recognitionof this, “e Heart of Neolithic Orkney”was inscribed on the World Heritage Listby UNESCO in 1999. Because of theiroutstanding universal value, “e monu-ments of Orkney, dating back to 3000-2000BC, are outstanding testimony to thecultural achievements of the Neolithic peo-ples of northern Europe.”

THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY

NEOLITHIC TIMELINE

BCc.12000 End of last Ice Agec.11000 Orkney separated from Scotlandc.10200 Start of the Neolithic period

First crops Einkorn, Millet, Speltc.9000 First towns develop in Middle Eastc.8000 First hunter-gatherers in Scotland

Domestication of animalsc.5300 Vinca symbols in use, Serbiac.5000 Wheat, Oats, Flax domesticatedc.4500 Neolithic Age reaches NW Europe

Vinca and other symbols in usec.3600 Knap of Howar oldest date

Unstan Ware potteryMalta Temples

c.3300 Barnhouse oldestNess of Brodgar oldest

c.3200 Stalled cairns appearIsbister oldest dateMaeshowe tombs appearSkara Brae oldest dateNess of Brodgar earliestWriting invented in Mesopotamia

c.3100 Knap of Howar latestQuanterness CairnGrooved Ware pottery

c.3000 Standing StonesQuoyness CairnSkara Brae phase IIWall of Brodgar, Ness of Brodgar

c.2800 Maeshowe builtc.2700 Ring of Brodgar builtc.2600 Ness of Brodgar structure 10

Woodland virtually gonec.2500 Cairns latest date

Skara Brae latestc.2300 Ness of Brodgar demolishedc.2200 Ness of Brodgar latestc.2000 Start of Bronze Age in Orkney

e West Mainland, showing the principal Neolithic sites

Visi

tOrk

ney

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The houses were quite sophisticated,being built with double-skinned drystonewalls. Midden material was often packedbetween these walls and surroundedthem on the outside. No similar stonehouses remain in Britain, or indeed Eu-rope, and their origin is obscure. How-ever, the buildings at the Knap of Howarhave two interesting features.

There is a strong resemblance in shapeand internal features with some of theearly chambered cairns, and the outlineis distinctly boat-shaped. Later Neolithichouses, such as at Skara Brae, are muchsquarer, with built-in bed spaces, and re-semble the Maeshowe-type chamberedcairns. Elsewhere in Britain plentifultimber would have been available for con-struction; its lack in Orkney was madeup for by the excellent building stone.

Since driftwood from North Americawas very likely available in quantity, theywould have had wooden fittings, whilewhalebone may also have been used forrafters. Roofs quite probably used someof the boat-building tradition with

woven Willow or Hazel supporting acovering of leather and turf, parts of oldboats or even flagstone slates. Heather,reed or straw thatch may also have beenused. Heather ropes were likely used tosecure the structures. The only evidenceof flagstone roofs so far is from the Nessof Brodgar. A brief survey of more recent

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NEOLITHIC AGE The similaritiesbetween tombs and artefacts from theNorth of Scotland and Orkney suggeststhat people arrived via Caithness. Therewere cultural links with the Highlandsand Islands, Ireland and Wessex duringthe Neolithic Age. Farming was well es-tablished in Orkney over 6,000 years ago.

Houses One of the oldest standinghouses in Western Europe, the Knap of

Howar, is on the island of Papay anddates from about 3600BC. The build-ings at Skara Brae in Sandwick, Rinyo onRousay, Noltland on Westray, Pool onSanday as well as Barnhouse and Ness ofBrodgar in Stenness all date from slightlylater, about 3100BC. These are estab-lished settlements, built by accomplishedstonemasons and reflect the work of asettled people, rather than new arrivals.

THE FIRST SETTLERS “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

NEOLITHIC DOMESTICSITES TO VISIT

Stenness BarnhouseNess of Brodgar

Sandwick Skara BraeRousay Rinyo Wyre Braes of Ha’BreckWestray Noltland linksPapay Knap of HowarSanday PoolEday Green

Skara Brae Street Knap of Howar doorway

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

Skara Brae hut 1

High quality masonry work, Knap of Howar


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Boats To reach Orkney and the otherScottish islands good boats, seamanshipand a working knowledge of the danger-ous waters was required. These vesselshad to carry substantial numbers of peo-ple, animals, seedcorn, tools and othergoods. They journeyed far down thecoasts of Britain, and had done so sincethe end of the Ice Age.

Offshore fishing for large Cod and Lingwas practised. None of this was possiblewithout a good knowledge of the tides,skerries and weather patterns in thesewaters. Excellent hooks have been foundin middens, fashioned from heated carti-lage, which are extremely strong, yet flex-ible.

Their boats were probably built with astout wooden frame, most likely withOak timbers and a framework of Willowor Hazel. Although leather, perhapstanned with Oak bark could have beenused as a skin, this would have beenheavy and easily damaged when wet.Much more likely is a woven fabric cov-

ering made from Flax or Nettle fibres.Both are very resistant to rotting, im-mensely strong and easily grown in quan-tity. Finally the skin would have beentarred with copious amounts of pitch.Such boats would have been easy to con-struct and maintain as well as being lightto haul out.

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ruined houses shows that roof coveringsand timbers are the first to be salvaged.Thus the archaeological record is perhapsbiased in favour of what was not salvagedafter abandonment.

The houses may well have had woodenfittings and doors. Interior furniture onlysurvives as stone beds, dressers, cup-boards, stone-lined tanks and hearths.Wood, leather, textiles and bone wouldall have made the houses comfortable.The recent finding of painting at theNess of Brodgar suggests that colour mayalso have been a feature.

Fuel could have been dried dung, sea-weed, turf, driftwood or whalebone, butnot much peat as this only started to de-velop much later. The houses had good,

lined, drains. At Skara Brae the housesare equipped with cells which were per-haps toilets, store rooms or pantries. Inall cases the quality of the stone work isvery impressive. It is easy to imagine thedomestic life of the inhabitants.

These people had a good and stable stan-dard of living, with time and energy tobuild elaborate monuments likeMaeshowe, the Ring of Brodgar and theimpressive buildings on the nearby Ness.Nothing is known of their language orculture, except that which can be gleanedfrom their buildings, artefacts and thelandscape. Barley and some Wheat weregrown, while cattle and sheep plus somepigs and goats were kept. Seabirds andfish were important in their diet anddeer were hunted.


Skara Brae hut 1 is very well preserved and measures about 6m by 6m internally Skara Brae doorway with lining and jambs

Skara Brae bed without the lining Hand quern at Knap of Howar


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used to make ale, which was preservedand flavoured with Meadowsweet, a verycommon Orkney wild flower.

There was plenty of milk, fish, sea birdsas well as domestic beef and lamb. Manyedible wild plants which are mostly ig-nored today would have been gathered tobe used medicinally, as flavouring, aspreservatives or as vegetables. Silver-weed, Sea Plantain, Marsh Marigold,

Scurvygrass, Sorrel, Lyme Grass andBullrush are all edible and locally com-mon. Poisonous plants such as Henbane,which occurs in Orkney, may have beenused as hallucinogen.

Seals were certainly exploited, perhapsmore for their oil and very durable skinsthan their meat. Whales were muchmore plentiful and strandings would havebeen seen as a great bounty from the sea.

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Clothing The old idea was that theSkara Brae people wore undressedleather skins but this is highly unlikely.Hunter gatherers would have used light,protective and hard wearing materials tomake their clothes. The Neolithic peoplehad a wide range of options besidesskins, including woven vegetable fibres,felted or woven wool as well as wovengrass, nettle fibres or straw. Bone pinswould have been used in place of clasps.

Food & Drink Remains of pots variedfrom tiny to over 60cm in diameter. Twodifferent styles of pottery artefacts havebeen found in these Neolithic sites.Round flagstone pot lids are common.Saddle querns were in widespread use togrind the Wheat and Barley, thoughprobably the latter was mostly eaten aftermalting which makes the grain muchmore digestible, as well as sweet to thetaste. Large quantities of malt was also


A small Grooved Ware pot Well built wall and path at the Ness of Brodgar

The large house at Barnhouse is 7m by 7m internally Excavation work in progress, Ness of Brodgar

Ness of Brodgar “neuk bed”Skara Brae bone pins


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and seaweed on the land, especially giventhe evident importance of the midding tothem.

The vegetation changes started about3800BC continued for some time and by2600BC there were few trees left. Recenttree-ring studies of old Irish Oaks sug-gest that there was a sudden deteriora-tion of climate about 2350BC, which isabout the time of the latest Neolithicdates. One theory is that a large cometor asteroid struck Earth at this time,causing a nine-year winter.

By 1300BC extensive peat bogs were de-veloping, making much marginal landunworkable, and overwhelming remain-ing woodland. By this time the landscapewould have been very similar to that ofthe early 20th century.

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BURIAL OF THE DEAD was clearlytaken very seriously, and at least in somecases, excarnation was practised. Bodieswere left in the open for some time to allowthe flesh to decay, and only some of thebones were placed in the tombs. Some os-teological studies suggest that the peoplehad short and unhealthy lives, but there isno evidence that this was universal.

The Neolithic people were able to constructthese elaborate monuments for their deadas well as impressive stone circles and verylarge buildings such as at the Ness ofBrodgar. This suggests that their societywas prosperous and well-organised.

There are similarities between pottery andother artefacts found in Portugal, southernEngland, Ireland and Orkney, suggesting

that there were contacts with people in theseareas. Little is known about the boats of thetime, but vessels able to transport peopleand their animals across the Pentland Firthor to fish offshore would have been morethan adequate to undertake longer journeysas well.

Climate and climatic change may wellhave had a lot to do with early settlement.Analysis of pollen shows that by about5900BC the land was covered with grass-land, birch-hazel scrub and ferns. Afterthe arrival of farming in about 4000BCthis was replaced by more open vegeta-tion , probably due to their grazing ani-mals and clearing for cultivation. Whilethere is no direct evidence of manuring,it is hard to believe that these people didnot notice the beneficial effects of dung

BURIAL OF THE DEAD CHAMBERED CAIRNS

The interior of Maeshowe is monumental and incorporates standing stones

CHAMBERED CAIRNS TOVISIT

This is only a selection of the most ac-cessible and best-preserved cairns.Those marked in bold are covered inthis book. Please see The OrkneyGuide Book 4th edition for full descrip-tions of all of the sites.

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 KelsburghS Ronaldsay Tomb of the Eagles

Maeshowe-type

St Ola Wideford HillStenness MaeshoweSandwick Ring of BookanFirth Cuween HillEgilsay OnziebustPapay Holm Long CairnSanday Mount Maesry

Quoyness Eday Vinquoy Hill

Cuween cairn near Finstown


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upright stalls set into the side walls,shelves at one or both ends as well assometimes along the sides and roundedcorbelling for the roofs. Low-roofed cellsoccasionally lead off the main chamber.The pottery type found in these cairnswas Unstan Ware. These are wide, roundbottomed pots, which may or may not bedecorated, and are also associated withthe Knap of Howar in Papay, as well asStonehall in Firth.

The MH type have rectangular cham-bers with high corbelled ceilings, andcells which may also have high roofs, butthey lack the upright stalls of the OCtype. They also tend to be built of largerstones, often very massive and normallyvery well cut and fitted together. Thereare only 12 examples of these uniquestructures. Where pottery was present itwas always Grooved Ware, flat-bottomedpots, quite distinct from the Unstan type.This association is also unique.

Unfortunately most sites were clearedout in the past without the benefit ofmodern techniques. However, severalcairns were excavated recently and pro-duced much data. The Maeshowe-typecairns at Quanterness (St Ola) andHowe (Stromness) and the Orkney-Cro-marty type cairn at Isbister (SouthRonaldsay) yielded many human and an-imal bones, artefacts and other materialfrom which much has been deducedabout the lives of the people buried there.

At Pierowall on Westray, a probableMaeshowe-type cairn was discoveredduring quarrying. This yielded an intri-cately carved stone, now in the WestrayHeritage Centre. It has spiral markingsvery like the one found at Church onEday, now in NMS. Similar designs atNewgrange in Ireland and elsewhere sug-gest cultural connections.

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Chambered Cairns are tombs which arecharacteristic of Neolithic times. Theyare stone-built and typically have a cen-tral chamber with an entry passage andsometimes one or more cells off the mainchamber.

Orkney has many of these houses for thedead, many of which are well preserved,and well-built. These tombs were builtby the Neolithic farmers, the oldest datein Orkney being from about 3200BC,and many continued in use for up to 800years before final sealing.

Although there is a range of sizes and de-sign, there are basically two types: whichhave been dubbed the Orkney-CromartyGroup (OC) and the Maeshowe Group(MH). The former type is related tosimilar cairns in Caithness, while the lat-ter is unique to Orkney. In many waysthese tombs are similar to the contempo-rary houses at Skara Brae and Knap ofHowar.

The OC type, of which there are about60 in Orkney, is characterised by having

BURIAL OF THE DEAD “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

Upper floor of Taversoe Tuick chambered cairn on Rousay

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

Knowe of Yarso is a small stalled cairn


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use. Some of these may be very ancient,and many are somewhat derogatory.

That the Neolithic people went to suchlengths in housing their dead, in contrastto later times, suggests that ancestorswere very important to them. Whilemuch has been discovered about the ma-terial aspects of these people’s lives, littlehas been revealed about their rituals andsocial organisation. The very large effortimplied in the construction of these mon-uments suggests that the society was wellorganised and had resources beyondmere subsistence farming.

The development progression of cham-bered cairns may have started with theapparently simple, and possibly early,Bookan type, through the various in-creasingly elaborate stalled cairns to theMaeshowe type. The last category isunique to Orkney and culminated in theeponymous impressive structure. Datingevidence is lacking for many sites.

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Osteology The picture gained fromstudies of bones recovered at Quanter-ness and Isbister is of a hard life. Fewpeople lived longer than 30 years, andmost died before 25. Arthritis was com-mon in adults, while mortality in child-hood was high. Usage of the tombslasted for several centuries. In these ex-cavations, remains of large numbers ofindividuals were found, with partial

skeletons of up to 400 people at each ofIsbister and Quanterness.

Some cairns, such as Maeshowe, con-tained no bones on excavation. Most ear-lier excavations failed to yield the detailof the recent work. The lack of bonesand other artefacts in many instancesmay simply mean that the cairns werecleared out at some unknown time in thepast, perhaps when they were decommis-sioned and finally sealed.

Some tombs appear to have had an asso-ciation with animals, Sea Eagles at Isbis-ter, dogs at Burray and Cuween andsheep, cattle or deer at others. Whetherthese, together with the many pot sherdsalso found, are the remains of funeralfeasts or offerings to the dead is an openquestion. It is interesting to note thatnicknames for people from particularparishes and islands are still in common

“Unstan Ware” pots - largest two from Unstan, small bowl from Taversoe TuickStone work like “Unstan Ware” pottery

Midhowe on Rousay is very large

NM

S

BURIAL OF THE DEAD “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

Unstan cairn in Stenness

Skull from the Tomb of the Eagles


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the heart of the West Mainland amid alow lying landscape of farmland, moor-land and water and surrounded by a bowlof hills. Although there may be slightlymore farming activity now than in Ne-olithic times, these are timeless places.

Traditionally it has been assumed that anancient quarry near Vestrafiold in Sand-wick (HY239218) is the source of stonefor the Standing Stones, Brodgar andMaeshowe. Several large stone slabs stilllie where they were quarried, a numbereven still resting flat on small stonesawaiting transport. The largest is over5.5m long.

Recent geological examinations atBrodgar suggest that this is true for some,but perhaps not all of the stones. It hasbeen suggested that several of the mono-liths may have originated elsewhere in

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STANDING STONES Apart fromhouses and chambered cairns, the Ne-olithic people also erected standingstones, stone circles and henges. Theseare some of the most impressive monu-ments from this time, especially the col-lection of megaliths between theStenness and Harray Lochs.

The henges include the Ring of Brodgar,the Standing Stones of Stenness and theRing of Bookan. Isolated standing stonesinclude the Watchstone and those atBarnhouse, Deepdale and Hindatuin.The impressive rock cut ditches at thethree henges represent a massive con-struction project. Selection, quarrying,transport and erection of the monoliths

seems like very hard work in the absenceof metal and power tools. The planningand laying out of the sites also requiredconsiderable expertise.

Many visitors, illustrious or not, haveproposed reasons for the erection ofthese monuments. They have usuallysuggested rituals, which is archaeologicalshorthand for “don’t know”, and often di-vined all sorts of bizarre things. What isclear is that the Neolithic people werevery much in tune with their environ-ment which obviously included the cyclesof the sun and the moon.

The sites selected for these monumentsare not accidental. They are situated in

STANDING STONES “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

STONE CIRCLES &HENGES TO VISIT

Stenness Standing StonesRing of Brodgar

Sandwick Ring of Bookan

STANDING STONES TOVISIT

Stenness WatchstoneBarnhouseOdin Stone (site of)Comet Stone

Harray Hindatuin StoneBirsay QuoybuneStromness DeepdaleRousay YetnasteenN Ronaldsay HollandEday Setter StoneShapinsay Mor Stein

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

Midsummer sunset at the Ring of Brodgar

Low Moon at the Standing Stones of Stenness


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connections with distant communities.But they also depended on the return ofthe sun, the fertility of the soil, the fecun-dity of their animals and crops and theirown successful reproduction.

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the West Mainland, from a number ofquarries. They might have been deliveredfrom different parishes as part of a grandcommunity enterprise.

Regardless of the reasons for and the lo-gistics of their construction, the threehenges represent a considerable designchallenge for a time when it is claimedthat there was no form of writing or no-tation. The circles are near perfect, theditches symmetrically cut and the stand-ing stones are accurately set. Whateverthe source of the megaliths, they had tofit an overall concept. Powerful forces inNeolithic society drove the building ofstone circles all over Britain and North-ern Europe. The Orkney henges datefrom the early part of the 3rd millenniumBC and are some of the oldest in the UK.

What archaeologists like to call ritualsprobably did involve the sun and moon,perhaps to decide on specific dates forfestivals. The main activities were prob-ably fertility rites including dancing,music, song, drinking, use of drugs and agood deal of sexual activity. These peoplewere established farmers, accomplishedfishermen and had at least occasional

Summer sunset at the Standing Stones of Stenness, with the Loch of Stenness and the Hoy Hills in the background

The Barnhouse Stone in midwinter

STANDING STONES “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

Midwinter sunrise at Stenness

The Watchstone at midsummer

The Odin Stone was destroyed in 1814


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some monoliths have been re-erected.Others have been toppled by lightningstrikes, careless farmers or infamous van-dals.

Chambered Cairns nearly all have a daywhen the rising or setting sun shinesthrough the passage. Perhaps this is ofsignificance, as also may be the dateswhen the light of the rising or settingMoon enters. Both Wideford andCuween are illuminated at the equinox,and the Tomb of the Eagles bathes in theMay Day sunrise.

e destroyed cairn at Pierowall maywell have had a southwest orientation,with its impressive lintel stone facing thesunset. Holm of Papa Westray Southcatches the rising sun in November andJanuary.

Solar and Lunar Calendars Midwinterand midsummer are obvious set points inthe calendar. A number of festivals seem

to be very ancient. ese include thosenow called St Brigit’s (Imbolc, Old Irish imMbolg, in the belly, pregnancy of ewes)on 1st February. May Day (Beltane, CelticBelo-tenia, bright fire) was for long cele-brated with bonfires on 1st May.

Lammas (OI Lughnasa, festival) was afair held on 1st August or later, when peo-ple met to trade produce, make contractsand young people sought romance.Called Halloween today, Samain, (OILatha na Samna, Festival Day) was amajor festival celebrating the end of theharvest and the onset of winter on 1st No-vember. Many of these dates were takenover by the Christians with varying de-grees of success.

Detailed surveys of many Neolithic mon-uments have produced conflicting evi-dence for a calendar, thought by some tobe the precursor of the so-called CelticCalendar. Most likely many of the align-ments which are so obvious to the ob-

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ALIGNMENTS It is almost impossi-ble to visit the Orkney Neolithic sitesaround the solstices without noticing ob-vious alignments to the rising and settingsun. e best known event is the after-noon midwinter sun illuminating thechamber of Maeshowe. Local peoplehave long said that the Watchstone is amore significant observation position.

Sun e winter solstice was clearly animportant event as it is marked frommultiple places on several dates betweenearly December and the end of January.us the precise date can be accuratelyknown despite many cloudy days. Ofparticular interest are the “flashingevents”. e sun disappears behind a hilland then momentarily reappears on theother side, as for example in Stenness.

e movements of the Sun are reflectedin alignments at Bookan, Brodgar, theStanding Stones, Barnhouse and also atthe Ness of Brodgar. ings are compli-cated by the fact that an unknown num-ber of standing stones and buildings havebeen felled or destroyed. In recent times

ALIGNMENTS “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

The setting sun reappearing on the north side of the Ward Hill of Hoy from the Watchstone on 12th December

Midwinter sunset at the Watchstone, where the sun “rolls” down the north side of the Ward Hill


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It is hard to imagine how a structure likeMaeshowe could be designed withoutusing units and angles. e recent exca-vations at the Ness of Brodgar furtheremphasise the planning, architecturaland building abilities of the Neolithicpeople. Detailed engineering surveys willdoubtless reveal much in future.

Sunrises and Sunsets e area aroundthe Ring of Brodgar is especially atmos-pheric in every season and every time ofday. e visitor can only speculate and

wonder at the exceptional setting, per-haps for a time forgetting the modernworld.

Although rarely mentioned in books andarticles, the Ring of Bookan, just to thenorth of Brodgar, is another fascinatingsite. It has panoramic views of the WestMainland. All of the solar and lunarphenomena can be observed from here,where the slight elevation of 30m gives aclear view of the whole surroundings.

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server today are intended, but not with ahigh degree of geometrical accuracy.

is early “calendar” may well have beendependent on the lunar rather than thesolar cycle. e growing seasons, tidesand lunations were perhaps of greaterimportance than the more obvious move-ments of the sun. ere are implicationshere for an as yet putative, but undiscov-ered, Neolithic calendar

e Moon was also clearly important inthe Neolithic, as now. Predicting thetides would have been essential, but thesepeople also knew about the more longterm movements of the Moon, which aregenerally not understood by today’surban dwellers.

During its monthly cycle, the Moon hasa complex behaviour due to the nature ofits orbit around the Earth. is rendersit useless for celestial navigation, but addsgreat interest to the night sky. Lunar dec-lination can change by up to 57o duringany month.

e result is a considerable bonus forphotographers as moonrise and moonsetchange in time and azimuth every day.An emphemeris is a very handy way todetermine the movements of celestialbodies in advance. e websiteephemeris.com is one good source of thisdata. e program e Photographer’sEphemeris is especially useful for plan-ning photography shoots and is availablefrom photoephemeris.com.

Megalithic Geometry Surveys of many ofthe 1,300 or so stone circles and settingsin Britain have revealed that most wereaccurately laid out as circles, ellipses orflattened ellipses. Ropes and pegs wouldhave been sufficient in many cases, butsome form of measurement was essentialto mark out where stones were to beerected and ditches to be dug.

Alexander om and others have postu-lated “Megalithic Feet, Yards, Rods” and soon which in many cases seem to fit theactual measurements on the ground.Knowledge of triangles, especially the3,4,5 would have been very helpful in lay-ing out circles, cairns and houses.

ALIGNMENTS “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

Sunset from Bookan Ring in early November

Midsummer sunset at the Standing Stones

Midsummer sunrise at Barnhouse


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Recent excavations there have revealed aNeolithic settlement. In 2009 the“Westray Wife” (or Orkney Venus) wasfound. This 3cm female figurine is by farthe oldest carving of a person so farfound in Scotland.

Two additional interesting objects werefound here. In 2010 a second figurinewas found, this time in clay and about34mm high, though without its head. Amuch larger decorated stone 45cm highwas also found here in 2008. It has in-cised chevrons and an S-shaped carving.

At Pierowall a carved stone was foundduring quarry work in 1981. It closelyresembles a stone found on Eday. Thecarving is very similar to those at New-grange in Ireland and was probably partof the lintel over the entrance of thisMaeshowe-type tomb. The structurewas destroyed before 2,000BC.

Tomb of the Eagles The first find at thechambered cairn at Isbister on South

Ronaldsay was a cache of carved stoneobjects, including a mace head and smallaxe and knives. Carved bone and shelljewellery was found as well as a jet buttonand ring. The high quality workmanshipcan be admired at the site museum.

Knap of Howar The oldest standingstonebuilt house in Orkney was the siteof some interesting finds, including a finecarved stone axe blade and a huge varietyof bone and stone tools. Many of theseare beautifully made and are more thanmerely utilitarian. The construction ofthe buildings is also very skilled.

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NEOLITHIC ART Until recently thesubject of Neolithic Art in Orkney wasnot taken very seriously. Certainly therewere chevron and lozenge incisions atSkara Brae and elsewhere. Cup marks,eyebrow motifs and whorls similar tothose from other areas were also found,as were many exquisite carved stone andbone objects.

The range of artifacts which are founddepends on the environment in whichthey have been since deposition. Apart

from bone, very few organic items havebeen discovered. This means that almostnothing is known about Neolithicwooden tools and fittings, boats, textiles,clothing or furnishings.

There is no evidence that these peopleused any kind of writing or notation.Equally their language is unknown.There are clear similarities with designsused in Ireland and southern England onpottery and on carved stones. Objectsmade from stone and jet which origi-nated hundreds of miles away confirmtrading links.

Skara Brae yielded a huge number ofcarved stone objects, jewellery made frombone and teeth, as well as symbols carvedon stones. Many artifacts were carvedfrom bone, ivory and whale’s teeth. Per-haps the most impressive are two whale-bone pins which are 25cm long.

Westray The Links of Noltland is alarge area of sand dunes above Grobuston Westray which is constantly changing.

NEOLITHIC ART “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

Incised stone from near hut 10, Skara Brae

The Westray Wife

Pierowall chambered cairn lintel stone

Mace head from the Tomb of the Eagles

Stone axe blade from the Knap of Howar


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Temperatures over 1,000oC were reachedand a high yield of usable vessels resulted.Orkney clays need a high temperature tobe properly fired. The kilns were built ofturf and have used mixtures of peat,dung, wood and seaweed as fuel.

Jewellery artefacts have been found inlarge numbers, especially when bone sur-vived well, as at Skara Brae and the Knapof Howar. Necklaces, bracelets and finebone pins are most common. The latterwere likely used to secure garments.Shells, whalebone, whales’ teeth and Wal-rus ivory were also used.

Colouring Haematite was found at var-ious sites. Some of the lumps were shiny,suggesting that they may have been usedto polish leather. Some small pots con-tained red ochre, perhaps for personaladornment.

At Ness of Brodgar stones painted in redand yellow were found, suggesting thatthe use of colour may have been morewidespread than previously thought.This raises many questions about the ap-pearance of Neolithic buildings whenthey were in use.

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POTTERY was a major feature of theNeolithic Age in Orkney. It ranges fromsmall bowls and drinking cups to con-tainers capable of holding up to 100litres. The pots are often beautifullymade and decorated.

Both Unstan and Grooved Ware useddecoration similar to other forms of Ne-olithic artwork. The former tend to befiner, round bottomed bowls and beakers,while the latter are more utilitarian andusually bucket shaped. The styles seemto be associated with particular sites.

Grooved Ware pottery sherds often makeup a large fraction of the larger artifactsfound during excavations. They fre-quently survive in remarkably good con-dition. Doubtless there were fashions inpots and perhaps rivalry between differ-ent potters.

A probable pottery kiln was discoveredat the Knowes of Trotty but so far this isthe only Neolithic example in Orkney.Potter Andrew Appleby has conductedsome experiments with making and fir-ing Grooved Ware type pottery.

NEOLITHIC POTTERY & TOOLS “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

Grooved Ware pottery from Links o’Noltland, Westray Bone jewellery from Skara Brae

“Grooved Ware” pottery sherd “Unstan Ware” pottery from Isbister

Tomb of the Eagles jewelllery

Painted stone at the Ness of Brodgar Neolithic haematite container


It should be noted that Maeshowe oper-ates a system of tours, which must bebooked in advance at busy periods (Tel01856 761606). Skara Brae should beavoided when large cruise liners are vis-iting as it can get crowded at times. Onsuch days it is best to visit early or late inthe day (Tel 01856 841815).

Tours A number of operators run visitsto the ancient sites. e major compa-nies include Stagecoach and John o’-Groats Ferries which have tours in thesummer. A number of smaller businessesoperate all year. Current details are avail-able from VisitOrkney Information Cen-tres in Kirkwall and Stromness (Tel01856 872856).

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When to Visit? e best times to visitare frequently around sunrise and sunset,rather than in the middle of the day. Notonly does this avoid the crowds, but of-fers by far the best lighting. Maeshoweis famous for its midwinter sunset, butthis can be seen on any clear day betweenlate November and late January.

All of the standing stones are at theirmost dramatic early and late in the day,which is when solar or lunar alignmentsmay be best observed. Many of the mon-uments are also in line of sight of eachother and this is more obvious at suchtimes. Visiting out of the main touristseason allows for a much more tranquiland satisfying experience.

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VISITING THE MONUMENTSe spectacular Neolithic monuments ofOrkney’s West Mainland comprise of theUNESCO inscribed sites and a largenumber of associated places to visit. erecent discoveries at the Ness of Brodgarattest to what remains unknown aboutthis remarkable period of prehistory.

Access Skara Brae and Maeshowe areopen daily, with shorter hours in winter.All of the other sites are freely open,

apart from the Ness of Brodgar. is canonly be seen while excavation work is inprogress during July and August.

Most of the monuments are within a rel-atively compact area and are best appre-ciated by walking or cycling betweenthem. Most have convenient car parkingand public access by signed paths. Someof the isolated standing stones are bestviewed from the road as they are in fieldswith no easy access.

THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE

Cro

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pyrig

ht

NEOLITHIC MONUMENTS OF THE WEST MAINLAND

Skara Brae 32 opening hours, admission charge, visitor centre,shop, cafeteria

Ring of Brodgar 40 open at all timesNess of Brodgar 44 visits during excavation season, July and Auguste Standing Stones 48 open at all timesWatchstone 50 open at all timesMaeshowe 52 opening hours, admission charge, visitor centre,

shop, bookable guided toursBarnhouse Village 62 open at all timesBarnhouse Stone 62 open at all timesUnstan Cairn 62 open at all timesRing of Bookan 64 open at all timesDeepdale Stone 64 open at all times

Note: Only sites described in this book are listed here. For full information onOrkney’s archaeological heritage please refer to e Orkney Guide Book, 4th edition


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Excavation Four houses were clearedout in the 1860s, but no further workwas done until the site was taken intostate care in 1925. In the meantime, fur-ther storms washed away most of hut 3and part of hut 1. A sea wall was built toprotect the site from further damage.Professor V Gordon Childe was broughtin to supervise its recording and conser-vation in 1929.

The complexity of the ruins and the needto preserve the structures made a properstratigraphic excavation impossible, butclear evidence of several phases of occu-pation were revealed. This also meansthat a great deal remains for future inves-tigators to reveal.

Skerrabrae The name Skara Brae is a re-cent 20th century corruption of Skerrabra,as it is still known as locally, the brae partbeing a mapmaker’s corruption. It is per-haps from ON Skjaldbreiðr, BroadShield, as the former mound resembleda Norse shield. Alternatively the namemay come from ON Skerabreiðr, BroadSkerry, referring to the large area of rocks

which protects the site from the west. Informer times the settlement was probablyseparated from the sea by sand dunes anddune slacks, which have since beeneroded away.

Village Having been cocooned within alarge dune for over 4,500 years, the vil-lage is remarkably preserved. The groupof seven houses is connected by a coveredclose, all of which were buried to the topsof the walls by midden. This clay-likemixture of refuse consists of ashes, shells,bones, sand and other domestic detritus,which has been a major factor in protect-ing the site from erosion.

It seems that the occupants built themidden around their houses intention-ally as an integral part of the construc-tion. The material appears to have beenstored and used deliberately rather thansimply piled round existing houses. Theearlier house appear to have been freestanding like those at Barnhouse.

Houses The houses vary in size fromover 6m square to barely 4m square, with

“THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

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SKARA BRAE (HY232188), by thesouth shore of the Bay of Skaill, isunique. This remarkably well preservedNeolithic village is one of very few arche-ological sites where it is actually possibleto imagine the life of the inhabitants.

Discovery It is said to have been first re-vealed after a severe northwesterly stormand extremely high tide in 1850. In fact

“the square catacombs in the Downs ofSkaill” were commented on by JamesRobertson, who visited in the 1760s. Re-cent work has shown that this prehistoriccommunity was occupied for at least 600years, from before 3200BC to about2500BC. There is evidence of earlier lay-ers dating from 3500BC, while second-ary usage continued until about 2200BC.

SKARA BRAE

Aerial view of Skara Brae

Professor V Gordon Childe with visitors Hut 1 before being tidied up Rough seas break over Skara Brae


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The interiors are surprisingly spaciouswith a floor area of up to 36m2. Dampproof courses had also been inventedover 5,000 years ago. The foundations ofthe houses have a layer of blue clay in thebottom course, which would haveworked as well as polythene does today.

The earliest houses resemble those atBarnhouse, with beds recessed in the

walls, while the later ones are larger withfreestanding boxbeds. During the 600years or more of primary occupation thebuildings were repaired, modified and re-built, apart from hut 7, which is built ona clay base directly on the sand.

Two older women were buried under onewall, perhaps before the house was built.It has been suggested that this was a

a maximum surviving wall height of2.4m. The designs are quite similar withbeds, dressers, tanks in the floor, cup-boards in the walls and cells off the mainroom. A system of stone lined drains,which connect to several of the side cells,serves the village, to remove rainwater,and no doubt domestic waste. Childe de-scribes green slime being found in thedrains, but none was kept for analysis.

Each house has a central fireplace and adoorway exiting to the main passage.These were small, about 1.1m high by0.6m wide, and very carefully con-structed. There was provision to fastenthe doors from the inside. The dressersare prominently placed facing the en-trance. In the later houses, stone boxbeds stand beside the sidewalls.

SKARA BRAE “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

Hut 8 is on the left, seen from the south swith the kiln and street on the right Hut 7 is now hidden by a turfed over roof and is the lowest, and presumably oldest, level

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Aerial view of Skara Brae Stone saddle quern Stone dresser in hut 1 The Street joins the houses underground


37

to facilitate the moving of large objectslike pots. Most likely these roomyhouses had internal galleries for storageand sleeping. There is no direct evidencefor this but a visit to the replica housemakes this obvious.

The Workshop One building, hut 8,was apparently the workshop, as it has nobeds and is differently arranged. It is tothe south of the houses and was not sur-rounded by midden. Many fragments ofchert, which had been heated, were foundon the floor. In the absence of flint thisstone was used to make cutting andscraping tools.

There was a kiln probably for firing pot-tery, and drying grain and malt. Largepots were made in sizes up to 60cm di-ameter, which were often decorated withgeometric patterns. This is classed asGrooved Ware, which was also found atBarnhouse, the Standing Stones, Rinyoand in some of the Maeshowe-typechambered cairns.

The porch on the east end has opposingdoors and has been interpreted as an areafor winnowing of corn, while the buildingwas probably also a grain storage andprocessing area, and may have been usedto malt barley. The large pots could holdat least 100 litres and would have beenused for storage, but may well also havefunctioned as containers for making ale.Apart from this usage, malted barley isvery digestible, and much more palatable

to people and ruminants than the grain.Once dried, malt stores very well.

Lifestyle The inhabitants kept cattle,pigs and sheep. They grew barley andsome wheat, fished the nearby waters,caught birds and gathered shellfish. Bonewas much used for tools and jewellery.The soil conditions were not favourablefor the preservation of wood and thusvery little has survived. In 1972 a water-logged area was investigated and yieldeda heather rope and a wooden handle.Most such artefacts have not survived,but it must be assumed that the SkaraBrae people used many wooden objects.

foundation burial and that the hut had adifferent use to the others. Although nodrains have been found leading from hut7, two of the compartments had thicklayers of green sludge.

What remains today is like a fossil.There would have been driftwood fromAmerica available for furnishings andmaterials such as animal sheepskins,leather and eider down, as well as caisies,cubbies and the original Orkney chairs.

There is no evidence for fabrics and noremains of anything to do with weaving.No spindles or whorls were found.However fibres from Nettle stems wereprobably used to make fishing lines andnets, and perhaps clothes. Heather stemswould have provided ropes and wool wasundoubtedly used to make cloth, perhapsby felting rather than weaving.

The roofs must have been supported bycouples made of driftwood or whale-bones and covered with skins or turf,held down by flat stones, heather ropesand straw simmons. There was probablya hole to let out the smoke and to admitsome light. House 7 has spaces in the topcourses, which look like they are for thefitting of joists.

The street and doorways are narrow, sothere may easily have been roof entrances


Hut 4 is one of the older, smaller housesThe north entrance to hut 8

Hut 8 is different and was probably the workshop, kiln and barn

36

Hut 5 has beds built into the walls and is older


39

these shapes and symbols have meanings,but if they do they remain elusive. Noorganic artefacts have survived with thesesymbols.

Evidence has not been found of any ma-terial objects from outside Orkney, sug-gesting a self-sufficient lifestyle. Thatcontacts with communities from furtherafield occurred is clear from the potteryand artwork. Boats good enough to fishoff to the west of Orkney are certainlyadequate to cross the Pentland Firth andtraverse the coast of Britain.

Abandonment of the settlement around2500BC was very likely caused by en-

croaching sand, perhaps slowly as thedunes shifted and the surrounding landbecame inundated. A great storm couldhave caused the village to be over-whelmed. However some of the housescontinued in use for at least another 300years, as shown by the multiple occupa-tion layers in the sand which filled them.

The Visitor Centre has an introductoryvideo about Skara Brae and the NeolithicAge in Orkney. Hands on interpretativedisplays, plus a range of artefacts and di-agrams give a good perspective on thesite. The impressive replica of hut 7 givesa dramatic idea of just how cosy and spa-cious they were. There is also a café anda well stocked shop.

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There would have been plenty of drift-wood from North America, which wouldhave been used for multiple purposes.The villagers must have had reasonablygood boats to go fishing, with woodenand with leather or woven covering, sownand strengthened with nettle fibre.

Artefacts Many artefacts were discov-ered including numerous circular stonepot lids, bone tools and jewellery. Fourcarved stone objects were also found,similar to others found in Orkney andelsewhere in Scotland. It has always beenassumed that these special objects hadsome significant purpose associated withritual and that somehow the inhabitantswere totally different to people today.

Neolithic Art also appears in the manymotifs which have been scratched onstones at Skara Brae, especially in huts 7and 8 and in the street near hut 2. Theymay be seen by visitors on the east sideof hut 8 and at the south entrance to thestreet. Made up of lozenges, chevrons,crosses and triangles, these motifs resem-ble those on Grooved Ware pots and sim-ilar inscriptions from Brodgar andBarnhouse as well as Maeshowe, Quoy-ness, Cuween and Wideford Hill cairns.

Skaill knives were common, and are madeby chipping shards off beach stones togive a useful sharp edge. One of these isdecorated with the patterns already de-scribed. There is a pervasive feeling that


Carved stone bulls horns with incised marks Carved geometric stone object Whalebone carved pendants

Replica of hut 8 at the Visitor Centre “Grooved Ware” pottery Bone pins

“Grooved Ware” pottery designs


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Despite the volume of material dug out,there is no trace of a surrounding earth-work, although there may originally havebeen a bank. An estimated 4,700m3 ofrock shifted to complete the excavation.There are two entrance causeways, on thenorthwest and southeast sides.

Comet Stone About 140m to the south-east an isolated menhir, the Comet Stone(ON Kuml-stein, Mound Stone), is set ona platform beside the stumps of twoother stones. At spring and autumnequinoxes, viewed from here, the sun setsjust glancing off the westernmost side ofthe Ring of Brodgar. Several other stonesstand between this and the Bridge ofBrodgar. There are also at least eightlarge mounds and smaller tumuli in thearea, which are probably Bronze Age. Itseems that the Brodgar area remainedimportant during the 3rd and 2nd millen-nia BC at least, and today it still has amagnetic attraction.

Alignments There are a variety of astro-nomical alignments, which may havebeen intended by the builders. Whilemany stones are missing, simple observa-tion suggests several possibilities. Theserelate to the solstices and the equinoxesas well as times such as Beltane (Old MayDay). At winter and summer solsticesthe sunrises and sunsets align with stonesand notches in the hills. Other outlyingstanding stones may be markers for spe-cific times of year also.

The site was undoubtedly chosen for ob-servation of the moon. During majorlunar standstills, every 18.6 years, themoon appears to skim the Orphir hills asseen from Brodgar. The phenomenonwas visible several times during 2005 to2007. Every lunar month the moonpasses low over the southern horizonwhen at its lowest declination.

Geophysical scans of the area showedevidence of settlement to the south onthe Ness of Brodgar, and to the north inthe Wasbister area. A Bronze Age fig-ure-of-eight house lies under one smallmound, and it is probable that more Ne-olithic and later sites will also be found.

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THE RING OF BRODGAR (ONBruar-gardr, Bridge Farm) is one of thefinest stone circles anywhere. This greathenge monument is superbly situated onthe Ness of Brodgar, in a confluence ofwater and sky, surrounded by the agricul-tural heart of Orkney. The feeling of spa-ciousness is enhanced by the size of thecircle, which is 103.7m in diameter. Ofthe probable original 60 stones, 27 re-main standing, varying between 2.1mand 4.7m in height. The site is laid outvery accurately in a perfect circle, with thestones approximately 6 degrees apart.

The source of the stones has been thesubject of speculation but the most likely

quarry is in Sandwick, near Vestrafiold,where prepared megaliths can still beseen. The sandstone beds here are ofgood quality and were clearly suitable formaking standing stones. Two unused ex-amples lie on the shore of the Loch ofStenness near Wasbister Barrow, suggest-ing that they may perhaps have beentransported by water for part of the way.

The surrounding rock cut ditch is now10m across but it was originally 5m wideand more than 3m deep. It is now halfsilted up and the sides have eroded. Ra-diocarbon dating of this infill places thedigging of the ditch in the third millen-nium BC.

THE RING OF BRODGAR “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

September evening light at the Ring of Brodgar Winter sunrise at the Ring of Brodgar


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little graffiti to deface the monoliths, butone stone on the North side is inscribedby some cryptographic Norse tree runes,thought to stand for Bjorn. The inscrip-tion was found on the lower side of afallen stone when it was re-erected in1907, and may well be genuine.

The variety of lighting conditions at dif-ferent seasons and hours, for whichOrkney is justly famous, is nowhere more

evident than at this ancient site. Thebuilders certainly knew what they weredoing when they chose this position atthe centre of the West Mainland. Thereare few more evocative places to be atdawn or sunset at any time of year thanthe Ring of Brodgar, a precinct to enjoyand perhaps where one can temporarilyescape from time itself. It really is specialplace to visit whatever the season, time ofday or weather.

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Perhaps the most interesting finding isthat there is no evidence of any buildingsin the vicinity of the Ring of Brodgar it-self.

Dyke o’Sean The Dyke o’Sean is an an-cient turf embankment which crosses theNess of Brodgar north of the ring, and isthe traditional parish boundary betweenSandwick and Stenness. There are alsoreferences to a similar dyke to the south,

suggesting that the area around the Ringof Brodgar was in some way special anddemarcated from the land outside thedykes. This is consistent with the lack offinds within the ring itself, suggestingthat this area was in some way special.

The Ring of Brodgar was taken into stateguardianship in 1906 and several fallenstones were re-erected. Lightning strikeshave since shattered two. There is very

“THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”THE RING OF BRODGAR

Midsummer sunset at the Ring of Brodgar from the Comet Stone

The Ring of Brodgar on a summer evening

Midsummer sunrise at the Ring of Brodgar

Midwinter sunset from the Ring of Brodgar


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been revealed. They have a strong simi-larity to the main building at nearbyBarnhouse.

Walls The site is bounded to the northand south by well built walls. The north-ern one was initially 4m wide, laterwidened to 6m, and up to 100m long.The southern one is 2m across, but sur-vives to a height of 1.7m. They werepaved on the outside and must have beenmost impressive. They could have been3m or more high and enclose an arearoughly 125m by 75m. They divide therecently excavated structures from therest of the landscape. The oldest radio-carbon dates found so far are from mate-rial under the southern wall and are fromc.3200BC.

Buildings The largest building, structure10, is 20m square with walls 5m thick. Itis surrounded by paving and hasstonework of remarkable quality. Thecross shaped interior includes standingstones and in design is reminiscent ofMaeshowe, with which the entranceseems to be aligned.

All of these buildings have side chambersbuilt into the walls, central fireplaces andare aligned roughly north to south. Largequantities of Grooved Ware pottery aswell as polished mace heads, carved andincised stones, a carved whale’s tooth andstones with peck marks have been found.In 2011 the “Brodgar Boy” clay figurineadded to the growing finds of anthropo-morphic artefacts in Orkney.

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NESS OF BRODGAR is the narrowpeninsula north of the bridge from whichthe area takes its name. There must havebeen a crossing here since the earliesttimes. In 1925 a stone decorated withNeolithic lozenges and chevrons wasfound in the area now being excavated. Ithad been reused as the lid of a BronzeAge cist burial. This was sent to the Na-tional Museum and quietly forgotten.

Luckily the field was never subjected todeep ploughing as at Barnhouse.

Discovery Geophysical surveys in theBrodgar area in 2003 showed many pos-sible structures “indicative of settlement”.Exploratory trenches were dug in 2004,which revealed the presence of a largearea of Neolithic structures. Over thelast few years several large buildings have

THE NESS OF BRODGAR “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

Brodgar Stone found in 1925

Paving stones and high quality walling

Ness of Brodgar under excavation

“Brodgar Boy” figurine Side cell built into wall Walling found in 2008


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for special occasions as has previouslybeen suggested for Barnhouse. There isa general lack of household rubbish andso far no small buildings such as those atSkara Brae or the Knap of Howar havebeen discovered.

Despite its massive size the inside ofstructure 10 is only slightly larger thanMaeshowe at about 6m across. The sur-viving interior stone work is however notof the standard of its neighbour, but thismay reflect demolition and robbingrather than the original workmanship.

Alignments The entrance of structure10 faces over the Loch of Stenness toBarnhouse, the Standing Stones of Sten-ness, and perhaps most importantly, toMaeshowe. It faces in a southeasterly di-rection, towards the midwinter sunrise,which from here appears over Mid Hillin Orphir. There are obviously manyother possibilities for other solar or lunaralignments from the Ness of Brodgar.Some of these may become evident as ex-cavation continues.

Abandonment The latest radiocarbondates so far found are c.2300BC fromcattle bones around structure 10. Thiswas first built around 2600BC and in-volved much demolition and burial ofearlier buildings. Development contin-ued for about 300 years, after whichstructure 10 was put out of use. It wasfilled with midden and rubble.

Hundreds of cattle tibia were also foundhere, perhaps representing feasting at thefinal closure of the site. Neolithic activitycontinued for perhaps another 200 years,but on a minor scale.

Nick Card, Project Manager has said,“The discoveries are unparalleled in Britishprehistory, the complexity of finds is chang-ing the whole vision of what the landscapewas 5,000 years ago and that it’s of a scalethat almost relates to the classical period inthe Mediterranean with walled enclosuresand walled precincts. The site could bemore important than Stonehenge.”

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Painted Stones One of the most inter-esting finds was painted stones. Probablyiron based pigments mixed with animalfat or egg whites were used to create theyellow, red and brown coatings. Somehave scratched designs which would havebeen very obvious when new and whichresemble other incised Neolithic art-work. Haematite and “paint pots” havebeen found at many Orkney Neolithicsites, and it was formerly assumed thatthese were for personal adornment. Itnow appears that paint was used to dec-orate at least parts of these buildings.

Flagstone Roofs Evidence was foundsuggesting that these buildings were atleast partly roofed by flagstone slates in

the same manner as traditional Orkneyhouses. A layer of large, worked rectan-gular flagstones was discovered on thefloor of two of the structures. The rec-tangular “slates” had been skillfullytrimmed. So far no evidence has beenfound of post holes, suggesting that theroofs must have been free standing. Per-haps these buildings would not havelooked so unfamiliar to modern Orcadi-ans.

Interiors Dressers and central hearthssimilar to those at Skara Brae were pres-ent, but the scale of the buildings andlack of evidence for long term occupationsuggests that these were not houses forliving in. More probably they were used

THE NESS OF BRODGAR “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

Aerial view of the Ness of Brodgar; the excavation site is the field in the right foreground

Inscribed stone Broken carved stone mace head


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Rendall hills and sets far to the north overthe Sandwick hills, while in midwinter itrises over the Orphir Hills and sets overHoy. During major lunar standstills (every 18.6 years) the moon skims the Or-phir hills, and it seems likely that observa-tion of this event may have been part of theNeolithic ritual.

In midwinter the moon rises overMaeshowe at sunset. There is an interest-ing alignment from the Standing Stoneswith Maeshowe, which appears centredbetween the two prominent uprights to thenorth of the central hearth. This may befortuitous as so much of the monument isno longer standing.

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STANDING STONES OF STENNESSThis stone circle originally had up to 12monoliths and a diameter of 30m, but nowcomprises of only 4 uprights, the tallest of

which is over 5m high. It is surrounded bya rock cut ditch 2m deep, 7m wide and44m in diameter which has become filledin over the years. Excavation revealed asquare setting of stones and holes for fur-ther uprights, either stone or wooden.

Remains of domestic animals, includingcattle, sheep and dog bones as well as ahuman finger were found in the ditch.Sherds of Grooved Ware pottery were alsopresent. Radiocarbon dating indicates thatthe circle was built about 3100BC, whichis older than many henge monuments fur-ther south in Britain. It is probably con-temporary with Barnhouse Village and theolder parts of the Ness of Brodgar.

There are several possible lunar and solaralignments visible from the here. In mid-summer the sun rises over a notch in the

STANDING STONES OF STENNESS “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

The sun “flashing” on the north flank of the Ward Hill of Hoy on 11th December

The Standing Stones in the late 18th century with the Odin Stone on the right Midwinter sunrise over the Standing Stones of Stenness at about 09:50GMT

Midsummer sunset


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Odinstone This stone was destroyed in1814 and used as lintels by the tenantfarmer at Barnhouse, a ferrylouper whohad become irritated by visitors to thestones Apparently the part with the holewas used as the pivot for a horse mill butwas destroyed after WWII.

Luckily the selfish farmer was stoppedfrom demolishing the rest of the StandingStones, but only after he had toppled twomore of the menhirs, one of which hebroke up. The threat of Court action fi-nally stopped this 19th century vandal, andthe fallen stone was re-erected in 1906.

Luckily the vast majority of landownersover the millennia have had great respectfor our antiquities.

The Odinstone had a hole in it throughwhich lovers clasped hands and swore theireverlasting troth. The Oath of Odin wasthen said and the contract was bindingthereafter. The Stone was also creditedwith healing powers, in association withthe well at Bigswell (HY345105), espe-cially at Beltane and midsummer. Recentlythe probable sockets of both this stone andanother were found between the StandingStones and the Watch Stone.

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Watchstone At the Bridge of Brodgar,stands the Watchstone (HY305128,5.6m). From it the date of the winter sol-stice may be determined on at least fourdifferent days. About ten days before andafter midwinter the sun reappears momen-tarily in a notch on the north side of theWard Hill of Hoy, after setting behind itssouthern flank.

Another interesting alignment from theWatchstone occurs on Up Helli Day,twelve days after Old New Year, still cele-brated in Shetland with Up Helly Aa. Onthis date, around the 29th of January, thesun disappears behind Cuilags just beforesunset and then reappears for a momentbelow the Kame of Hoy, before finally set-ting. This also happens on about the 11thof November.

STANDING STONES OF STENNESS “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

Watchstone sunset on 8th January over the Hoy Hills and the Loch of Stenness

Reappearing sun at the Kame of Hoy on 29th January

Springtime at the Watchstone

The Watchstone, on the left, with the Odin Stone, on the right, before destruction


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floor. The entrance passage, 14.5m longand 1.4m high, is lined with huge slabs, thelargest weighing over 30 tonnes. Whenopened in 1861, the building was emptybar a piece of human skull, and some horsebones, but this was certainly not the firstsuch incursion. The Vikings visited duringthe 12th century and left one of the largestcollections of runes anywhere.

Maeshowe was built on a levelled area ofground with a surrounding bank and ditch,peat from the bottom of which has beendated at 2750BC, which makes it contem-porary with the Standing Stones andSkara Brae. Since no artefacts were foundin 1861, little can be deduced about itsusage. The surrounding bank was rebuilton top of an original drystone wall in earlyNorse times.

Evidence of sockets for large standingstones around the outside of the moundonly adds mystery to the original designand purpose. Carvings on some of thestones very similar to those found at Skara

Brae and the Ness of Brodgar, are present.The overriding impression is of a NeolithicCathedral, not a simple tomb.

While the other Maeshowe-type cham-bered cairns are all very well constructed,only Maeshowe itself is truly monumen-tal, with huge slabs of stone. Each cell isroofed by a single massive flagstoneweighing up to 30 tonnes. After 5,000years there has been little settlement andonly a few of the horizontal slabs havecracked, attesting to the competence ofthe engineers who built the cairn.

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MAESHOWE (HY315128), consideredto be one of the greatest architecturalachievements of Neolithic Europe, isOrkney’s largest and finest chamberedcairn. The Orkneyinga Saga refers to it asOrkahaugr (ON The Mound of theOrks).

Another derivation may be ON Math-haugr, meadow mound. There is aMaesquoy about 5km (3mi) north ofMaeshowe on the Netherbrough Road.There are also several farm names whichend in “may”, so this could well be he cor-rect meaning, if rather mundane.

The mound, 35m in diameter and 7mhigh, consists mostly of packed stones andclay, with an inner layer of masonry aroundthe chamber. A stone and concrete roofwas installed after it was cleared out in

1861. Before this it was rather higher inprofile. Other unrecorded repairs to theouter end of the entrance passage were alsomade, which means that the original en-trance layout is unknown.

Maeshowe was included in the first An-cient Monuments Act of 1882, and hasbeen in state care since 1910. It was de-signed and constructed with great atten-tion to detail, the large dressed slabs beingskillfully set together and finished by mas-ter stonemasons. The chamber is 4.5msquare and about the same in height. A ta-pered orthostat faces each corner buttressgiving an impression of space and strength.The original roof design and height is un-known, but it may have been 6m high.

There are three cells within the walls whichwere sealed with stone blocks now on the

MAESHOWE “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

Aerial view of Maeshowe in the snow

The interior of Maeshowe showing two cells, blocking stones and the entrance passage with buttresses

Maeshowe is surrounded by a circular ditch and bank


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As the shortest day approaches, the sunsets further south until eventually it dis-appears behind the Ward Hill of Hoy.For several days it reappears some min-utes later on the north side of the hill,sending a beam of light down the eastside of the passage and lighting up apatch on the back wall. About 20 daysbefore the solstice the sun briefly flashesbefore setting, but for the next 40 days itdoes not reappear in this fashion, as it istoo low in the sky.

A similar alignment can be observedabout 40 days before and after the wintersolstice, when the setting sun disappearsbehind the Cuilags on Hoy and thenbriefly reappears below the Kame. Thusthere are at least five days when observa-tions can determine the actual shortestday.

Maeshowe was most carefully placed inits environment. Today it is impossibleto devine the original layout, since many

standing stones and other features havebeen destroyed, and thus further align-ments may well have existed. What isclear is that the builders had a definite vi-sion and purpose. Ceremonies were un-doubtedly held here, which would haveincluded those for the dead, but also forthe living and perhaps the return of thesun.

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Winter solstice It has long been knownthat the setting sun shines directly downthe passage of Maeshowe around thewinter solstice, lighting up the back walland passage in a dramatic fashion. Muchspeculation has been published over theyears about this.

The large blocking stone at the entranceseems designed to be shut from the in-side, but also would leave a gap of about20cm to allow light through. The floorof the passage slopes up towards thechamber, so that water runs outwards to-

wards a drain. Some collects at the en-trance and acts as a reflector, greatly in-creasing the illumination of the interiorwhen the sun is bright.

From mid-November until mid-Januarythe sun shines into the chamber at sunsetand lights up the back wall, graduallycreeping down the passage and across thefloor. At the winter solstice the shaft oflight hits the back wall at about14:40GMT, and by 15:05 the sun has setbehind the Ward Hill of Hoy.

MAESHOWE - WINTER SUNSET “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

About three weeks before and after the solstice

Midwinter sunset illuminating the passage and floor

The sun hitting the back wall 12th January sun on blocking stone


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similar implement. They represent most ofthe Latin alphabet, as required by OldNorse. There are many variations in therunic alphabet, but most of the charactershave Latin equivalents. Runes were usedthroughout the Germanic lands, but wereprobably developed in Scandinavia.

The Maeshowe runes were carved in the12th century, some by returning crusaders.There are about 30 inscriptions, many ofthe style, “Thorfinn wrote these runes”. Somegave the father’s name, or a nickname, othersare by women and several are about them.

Clearly the Vikings were interested inMaeshowe and left inscriptions on at leastone other occasion, when stories abouttreasure were being told, as in "Haakon sin-glehanded bore treasures from this howe". Thevery long inscription on the monolith to thenorthwest of the entrance passage describeshow “Treasure was carried away three nightsbefore they broke this mound.” In other wordsa lame excuse for the Vikings not findingany of what they would call treasure.

Women were also discussed, as in No9,“Ingibjorg the fair widow”. “Many a womanhas come stooping in here. A great showoff.Erlingr”. No10 is less polite, “yorny fucked.Helgi carved.” Or No5, quite mundane,“Vermundr carved.”

Gaukr’s Axe No20 is on two separateblocks on the southeast side of the chamber.“The man who is most skilled in runes west ofthe ocean carved these runes with the axe which

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RUNES Maeshowe has one of the largestgroups of Norse runic inscriptions known.They are common all over Scandinavia andthe Norse colonies, with the earliest datingfrom about 200AD. The younger fuzarkwas developed about 700AD and was theform of runes used by the Vikings. Manyinscriptions are on artefacts and tell whocarved the runes. Runic memorial stonesare common, often using existing bouldersto commemorate the exploits of the dead.

Few such inscriptions have been found inOrkney, possibly because of the nature ofthe sandstone. Fragments only remain ofwhat must have been a larger number. Graf-fiti writing has presumably been a popularpastime for many years, but is usually re-garded as a mess to be cleared up, ratherthan something to marvel at.

Runes developed as a way of carving lettersinto wood, bone or stone using a blade or

MAESHOWE - RUNES “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

“No4

Tha

t will

be t

rue w

hich

I sa

y, th

at tr

easu

re w

as ca

rried

awa

y. T

reas

ure w

as ca

rried

awa

y th

ree n

ights

befo

re th

ey b

roke

this

mou

nd.”

No9 “Ingibjorg, the fair widow. Many a woman has gone stooping in here. A great show-off.”

No32 “...treasure was hidden here”;“Happy is he who can find the great wealth............”


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which has been interpreted in various ways.Most Orcadians consider that it is a mythi-cal dragon. Some try to interpret it as amotif depicting pagan beliefs being killed bya Christian sword.

This seems unlikely since the Vikings hadbeen converted for over 150 years. Othersthink it is a lion. Rognvald and his men hadjust been to Jerusalem and the crusades, vis-iting Venice along the way, which could haveinspired a dragon or a lion. Whatever thethoughts of the artist, it looks fresh afterover 860 years.

Below the dragon there is an animal whichis probably a Common Seal, which wouldfit very well with the Norse name forMaeshowe. The fanciful have suggestedthat it may be an Otter or even a Walrus.Again there is common local agreement thatit is indeed a selkie.

Further down an intricately knotted sea ser-pent, perhaps a kraaken appears almost towrithe. This worm-knot is of a similar stan-

dard to the dragon. Visitors must make uptheir own minds as to what these carvingsmay be intended to represent, but none candeny the craftsmanship and beauty of these12th century graffiti. Today we strongly dis-courage such things, but at the same timethese Norsemen immeasurably increasedthe interest of a visit to Maeshowe.

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Gaukr Trandilssonr owned south of the coun-try [Iceland]”.

The carver may have been Thorhallr As-grimssom, according to the OrkneyingaSaga, captain of Earl Rognvald’s ship whenthey returned in 1153 from the Crusades.He was the great great grandson of AsgrimrEllidtha-Grimssonr, who is claimed to havekilled Gaukr Trandilson in the late 900s in

Iceland. If true the axe must have remainedin this family for 5 generations.

Tree Runes Some, including no20, havecryptic tree runes which are easily deci-phered by a numeric code based on thefuzark, the runic alphabet. Little could theViking graffiti writers of c.1152 have re-alised how interesting their runes would betoday! In the magnificent setting ofMaeshowe, the Viking visitors seem not sofar away.

Simple graffiti No1 is typical of many ofthe inscriptions. High on the southwestwall above the entrance passage is a veryclear inscription which read, “That is aViking...then came underneath to this place”.

Maeshowe Dragon The MaeshoweDragon is a very familiar Orkney icon,

MAESHOWE - RUNES “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

The “Maeshowe Dragon”

A coiled serpent, perhaps a “Krakken” No1 “That is a viking...then came underneath to this place”

“No20 The man who is most skilled in runes west of the ocean carved these runes with the axe...


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it. It is positioned such that about 22days before and after the winter solsticethe setting sun lines up with this stoneand the Maeshowe passage as it “flashes”on the north side of the Ward Hill ofHoy. The stone is also in alignment withthe Watchstone and the centre of theRing of Brodgar.

Barnhouse Village lies on the shore ofthe Loch of Harray about 100m from theStanding Stones. Despite deep plough-ing, enough of the foundations remainedto show a remarkable series of buildings.The small structures closely resemble theolder houses at Skara Brae with centralfireplaces, stone-lined drains and bedspaces set into the walls. The largerhouse has echoes of Maeshowe, butmeasures 7m square on the inside andhas a large central hearth.

Grooved Ware pottery was found hereand the oldest date seems to be about3200BC, making it contemporary withthe nearby Standing Stones. The housesmay have been used for activities relatedto those at the stone circle. The smallhouse nearest the loch and the entranceto the large house are aligned with mid-summer sunset. The entrance of one ofthe other houses is in line with the mid-winter sunrise.

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Unstan Cairn (HY283118), near theBrig o'Waithe has given its name to aclass of Neolithic pottery, Unstan Ware.When excavated in 1884, a large amountof this was found. These bowls have acharacteristic shape and decoration andwere also found at the Knap of Howaron Papay, as well as in other stalled cairnsof this type, including the Tomb of theEagles in South Ronaldsay, which are re-ferred to as the Orkney-Cromarty group.

The chamber is 6.6m long, 1.9m at itswidest and the walls survive to over 2min height. Opening onto the side of thechamber, the narrow passage is 6.5mlong. There is a cell in the centre of thewall opposite the entrance, and verticalflagstone stalls divide the main chamberinto five sections, three central and twoshelved end compartments which haveend walls formed from large slabs set onedge. The whole design is very similarto the Tomb of the Eagles.

A stone with carvings and runes was putthere during restoration, and while therunes may be Viking, the other shapesare more likely 20th century graffiti. Alarge amount of human and animal bonewas found but unfortunately it was notrecorded. Of particular interest is thenortheast alignment of the entry passagewith the Watchstone and the large houseat Barnhouse Village across the loch. To-wards midsummer the rising sun illumi-nates this passage.

Unstan Cairn may possibly date from asearly as 3200BC. When it was clearedout in 1884 very little of the large assem-blage of human and animal bones waskept. No samples of the “black layer”from the floor of the side cell were kept.

Barnhouse Stone This monolith(HY312122, 3.2m) stands in a field nearthe main road, inside a rather mean-look-ing fence put there by a farmer whowould have preferred to have destroyed

UNSTAN CAIRN & BARNHOUSE VILLAGE “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

One of the small houses at Barnhouse Village resembles the older ones at Skara Brae

Maeshowe 21st December from Barnhouse

Unstan has stalls and a side chamber

Unstan interior from the south end


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Bookan Cairn Facing the Ring ofBrodgar, and about 400m southeast ofthe Ring of Bookan, little remains ofBookan chambered cairn (HY287141).It is unusual in that the interior divisionswere vertically-placed flagstones set in arectangular drystone building about 4msquare. A short entrance passage leads tothe main chamber, a central area about2m by 1.3m, with five compartments,each about 1m square, two on each sideand one at the far end.

Each compartment could be sealed off bymeans of an upright flagstone. In addi-tion the cairn is surrounded by a stonewall, making the whole arrangement akinto Maeshowe-type tombs. Some potteryand bones were found and “lost” duringthe 1861 excavation. Bookan is differentto most of the other chambered cairns inOrkney, but it does resemble TaversoeTuick (Upper) on Rousay and Hunter-squoy (Upper) on Eday. There are alsoechoes of house interiors at Skara Braeand Knap of Howar.

Deepdale stones The large 2m-highmonolith at Deepdale on the road toStromness (HY272118) overlooks theLoch of Stenness and the Brig o’Waithe.Its flat side faces the Ring of Brodgar, andthe stone may well have played a role inmidsummer sunrise observations. Itcould also be related to nearby Unstanchambered cairn. Until recently therewas another one nearby but it has disap-peared. It remains popular today as aconvenient rubbing post for cattle, and isworth visiting for the panoramic view ofthe centre of the West Mainland alone.

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Bookan To the north of Brodgar theRing of Bookan (HY283145) is of par-ticular interest. This henge monumenthas a ditch over 2m deep and 10m wide,which is partially filled-in. There is acentral mound, about 42m by 38m, witha much-robbed chambered cairn at itscentre, whose entrance faces the midsum-mer sunrise. Sweeping views over theLochs of Harray and Stenness to theHoy Hills and to Sandwick suggest thatthe site may have played an importantpart in the overall Neolithic plan.

To the southwest a substantial moundcalled Skae Frue is possibly a Bronze Ageburial mound, but it also lies in a directline with the midwinter sunset seen fromthe centre of the Ring of Bookan. Thismay well be another observation site forsolar and lunar events.

Southeast lie a series of mounds and asubstantial quarry of unknown datewhich was perhaps the source of stonefor the nearby monuments and the build-ings around Brodgar. Whether it wasalso a source for monoliths is unknown.

BOOKAN & DEEPDALE “THE HEART OF NEOLITHIC ORKNEY”

Sunset over Cuilags and Skae Frue from the centre of the Ring of Bookan on December 17th

Deepdale standing stoneThe entrance of the large ruined chambered cairn at the Ring of Bookan faces midsummer sunrise

The view towards Brodgar from Bookan chambered cairn


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Abandonment 39, 47Access 30Alignments 22, 41, 47Artefacts 38Barnhouse Stone 60Barnhouse Village 61Boats 9Bookan 13, 62Bookan Type Cairn 13Burial Of The Dead 12Calendars 23Chambered Cairns 13, 14, 23Climate Change 12Clothing 10Colouring 29Comet Stone 41Deepdale Stones 63Domestic Sites to Visit 7Drains 34Dressers 34, 46Dyke o’Sean 42Excarnation 12Flagstone Roofs 46Food & Drink 10Grooved Ware 28, 45,61Houses 6Jewellery 29Knap Of Howar 6, 27Lifestyle 37Links Of Noltland 26Maeshowe 13, 52Maeshowe Dragon 58Maeshowe-Type Cairn 13Maeshowe Winter Sunset 54Major Lunar Standstills 49Megalithic Geometry 24Neolithic Art 26, 38Neolithic Monuments to Visit 31

Neolithic Orkney 4Neolithic Timeline 5Ness Of Brodgar 29, 44Odinstone 51Orkney Guide Book, 4th Edition 5Orkney-Cromarty Type Cairn 13Osteology 16Painted Stones 46Pierowall 27Pottery 28Reappearing Sun 49, 50, 55Ring Of Bookan 13, 18, 62Ring Of Brodgar 18, 40Runes 56Skae Frue 62Skaill Knives 38Skara Brae 6, 32Standing Stones 18Standing Stones Of Stenness 18, 48The First Settlers 6The Heart Of Neolithic Orkney 4Tomb Of The Eagles 27Tours 31Unesco World Heritage Site 4, 31Unstan Cairn 13,60Unstan Ware 28, 60Vegetation Changes 12Vestrafiold 19Vikings 56Village 33Visiting The Monuments 30Visitor Centre 39Wall of Brodgar 45Watchstone 50Westray Wife 27When To Visit? 31Winter Solstice 54Workshop 37

INDEX


t ha n o · 2012. 12. 19. · without a good knowledge of the tides, skerries and weather patterns...

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