Introduction

Location: Mainland, Orkney, Scotland

Type: Neolithic settlement

Skara Brae is a Neolithic Age site, consisting of ten stone structures, near the Bay of Skaill, Orkney, Scotland. Today the village is situated by the shore but when it was inhabited (c.3100-2500 BCE) it would have been further inland. Steady erosion of the land over the centuries has altered the landscape considerably and interpretations of the site, based upon its present location, have had to be re-evaluated in light of this. The name Skara Brae’ is a corruption of the old name for the site, `Skerrabra’ or `Styerrabrae’ which designated the mound which buried (and thereby preserved) the buildings of the village. The name by which the original inhabitants knew the site is unknown.

 

 

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Founder/ Land Owner

William Watt

 

Began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses the work was abandoned in 1868. The site remained undisturbed until 1913, when during a single weekend the site was plundered by a party with shovels who took away an unknown quantity of artifacts. In 1924 another storm swept away part of one of the houses and it was determined the site should be made secure and more seriously investigated. The job was given to Professor Vere Gordon Childe who travelled to Skara Brae for the first time in mid-1927

 

Archaeologist

Professor Vere Gordon Childe

Architecture

Skara Brae was inhabited for at least 600 years, over this time there appears to have been two separate stages of construction. The construction phases date to around 3000BC. The earliest houses in the village were circular; made up of one main room, containing a central hearth, with beds set into the walls at either side. Opposite the main entrance was a shelved stone dresser. The houses that were later constructed followed the same basic design, but on a larger scale. The house shape changed slightly, becoming more rectangular with rounded internal corners. The beds were no longer built into the walls but protruded into the main living area. Each house had an entrance that consisted of a low doorway, which had a stone slab door that could be used to close off the entrance. These structures were used for seven generations, but it appears that Skara Brae did not grow any larger than eight structures that are still present today. Each housing unit could hold only 50 to 100 villagers at any given time. The houses appeared to have been built into the grown, but this is not the case. The houses were built into mounds of pre-existing refuse, known as "midden". Midden provided the houses with some form of stability, but its main purpose was to act as a layer of insulation. The Orkney climate has been known to be rather harsh. The way the houses were built into the midden would have made the village appear as low, rounded mounds; it was only noticeable that a village was present by the rooftops. Also the individuals added a remarkably advanced drainage system, which may have included an early form bathrooms

 

Layout

The layout of Skara Brae was mostly for functional purposes, but some of the elements of the architecture may have been symbolically significant.

Walkways

The walkways that wound between the houses forced outsiders and the inhabitants to travel through the village in a unique fashion. An individual navigating their way through Skara Brae had to pass the houses branching from the main passage.

Doorway

The identical layout of each house meant that each doorway being passed, the individual was immediately become aware of the central hearth and the stone dresser illuminated by firelight. This view was probably significant in the fact that this would be the first encountered area upon entering an individual's dwelling

Dresser

The positioning of the stone dresser, immediately opposite the door, meant that it was illuminated by whatever light came through the entrance as well as the light from the central hearth. This ensured that the dresser and its contents were the first object viewed when entering the house. The dresser's contents could have possibility represented the status of the owner; its position could have communicated the wealth factor to an individual before entering another's homesteadThe interior of the homes were designed so that there was a deliberately walkway to guide the movement of any individual that entered the home. There is an obstacle, made from a slab of flagstone, which was placed to the immediate left of the entrance. This forced the individual entering the house to move towards the right of the house. The area that the individual was being directed towards may have been considered a "male area" and was considered distinct from the left side of the house, where the domestic chores we carried out.

 Significance

The layout of Skara Brae intentionally outlines the Lotus flower in bud and its leaf. Symbolizing the Tree of Life and Resurrection each are significant motifs used to encrypt the concept of Precession. The symbolic significance of these motifs was known only to the Priests.

The Tree of Life represented the Axis Munde around which the heavens appear to revolve. The Axis Munde is the World Pillar, the link between the terrestrial and celestial worlds. A representation of this World Pillar is to be found lying on the floor in House Seven, significantly the same house where the Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs were carved.

In addition, the bodies of two older women which had been placed in a sarcophagus, were discovered buried beneath the sarcophagus bed at the right hand side of House Seven. This is the same sarcophagus bed upon which the Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs had been carved.

 

 

Signs of the Zodiac

The inhabitants of Skara Brae erected the twelve Stones of Stenness in a perfect circle to represent the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac and eventually thirteen tombs were erected on Mainland Orkney to represent the Lunar Zodiac.

Conceptual on how they live in.

 

 

TIMELINE OF SKARA BRAE

c. 3300 BCE - 2600 BCE

Neolithic site of Barnhouse Settlement occupied.

 

3100 BCENeolithic Village of Skara Brae inhabited, stone walls built.

c. 3100 BCENeolithic village of Skara Brae inhabited.

c. 3000 BCE - c. 2800 BCEThe Neolithic chambered cairn known as Maeshowe constructed and in use.

2600 BCEBarnhouse Settlement abandoned and partially destroyed by inhabitants.

c. 2500 BCEVillage of Skara Brae is abandoned for unknown reasons.

1850 CEBuried Neolithic Age village of Skara Brae uncovered by storm.

1913 CESkara Brae site is plundered by unknown parties.

1924 CEA storm damages the exposed village of Skara Brae and destroys one house.

1924 CESkara Brae is placed under guardianship of H.M. Commissioners of Works.

1927 CEProfessional excavation and preservation efforts begin at Skara Brae under V. G. Childe and J.W. Paterson.

1999 CE

Skara Brae declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.