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| Image via Wikipedia |
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| Image via Wikipedia |
By Peter Petterson
First published at Qondio:
Let me describe a scenario that is old as ancient Egypt or Pompeii - something 4000 years or more in the neolithic age preceding the iron age, the bronze age, long before even the Celts and the Romans in ancient Britain.
The discovery of the village of Skara Brae: May be more important than Stonehenge?
During the winter of 1850 a great storm battered the Orkney Islands in northern Scotland. This in itself is not that unusual in these remote northern islands, but on this particular occasion the combination of strong winds and extremely high tides stripped the grass from a large mound there, then known as "Skerrabra".
This stripping revealed the outline of a number of stone buildings - something that intrigued the local Laird(Lord), William Watt of Skaill, who then embarked on an excavation of the site.
Excavation work was finally abandoned in 1868, after the remains of four ancient houses had been unearthed. The settlement remained undisturbed until 1925, when another great storm damaged the previously excavated structures.
A seawall was constructed to preserve the existing remains, and yet even more ancient buildings were discovered.
After further excavations betwen 1928 and 1930 the dwellings present today were released from their ancient protective cocoons. It was believed the village was actually an iron-age settlement dating from around 500 BC, but this was no Pictish village.
Radiocarbon dating in the 1970's confirmed the settlements much earlier existence - dating from the Neolithic period and being settled for 600 years between 3200 BC and 2200 BC, pre-dating even the Celtic period.
Today, Skerrabra or Skara Brae as it is now known survives as eight dwellings linked together by low covered passage-ways. Because of the protection by the sand that covered the settlement for 4000 years, the buildings and their contents are remarkably well preserved. Not only are the structures walls still standing, but they are still roofed with original stone slabs, and the interior fittings give what has been described as an unparalled glimpse of life in the Neolithic Orkneys.They share a timeframe with ancient Egypt and Pompeii.
Go to the links provided and spend a few hours reading and viewing life in the Orkneys 4000 years ago, long before Vikings, Saxons, or Celts - into the realms of ancient history. We may run into each other there.
Being down in the South Pacific I had not heard of Skara Brae before, but my younger brother who was up in Wellington with us just after Christmas this year, having a break from earthquake riven Christchurch, mentioned what he had heard. And so our story about ancient Britain has resulted.
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| Image via Wikipedia |
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| Image via Wikipedia |
