All About Neolithic Orkney

Ring of Brodgar, the Orkney Isles

From stone circles, known as henges, to individual standing stones, Orkney has a proliferation of Standing Stones. At least 600 years before the wheel was invented, how were people moving and erecting these colossal structures? One theory which was recently tested out on a BBC programme is that seaweed was used to slide these giant stones from the sea.

The Ring of Brodgar

This circle of standing stones is known as a henge, a circle of stones with a circular trench around the outside and replicates many found throughout the world. Originally, there were 60 stones, of which 27 remain. It is estimated that it took 100,000 man-hours to erect. It’s no mean feat and obviously important. What was the significance? Some of the more popular theories are as follows:

A planetarium – these early peoples would have been finely tuned to the movement of the stars and the moon. Was this a place of learning to study the stars?

A communal meeting place – could this have been where the people came together from the island to discuss matters of importance?

Pagan ritual – a place for people to come together to celebrate the changing seasons?

Politics – similar to community but a place of extreme importance for leaders to meet?

………….but of course, all the above are wrong. Once upon a time a group of giants lived on Orkney. They were friendly, happy giants but could only come out in the dark. The giants knew that the big yellow ring in the sky was dangerous for them, but they were unsure why. One night, they had a guest, a fiddler from a nearby island. The giants had never heard such beautiful music before and danced the night away. They were so happy, and the music was so good that they forgot about the danger from the sky. As the night gave way to a beautiful, red-rising sun, the giants were struck by the beauty and forgot to go back into hiding. As the first rays began to come over the horizon, the giants were immediately turned to stone, creating the ring of Brodgar. In a nearby field stands the comet stone, which was once the fiddler. Each year as daylight disappears at midwinter, the stones take a walk to the Loch of Stenness for a drink!

The Standing Stones of Stennes

Stennes Standing Stones, the Orkney Isles

This site is dated around 3000BC, older than the Ring of Brodgar, and was once a henge with a hearth in the middle. The stones lie between the Barnhouse village and Maeshowe. Was there a connection? Sunrise and sunset are the times to see these majestic structures when they take on a beauty and power that surpasses time.

The Odin Stone

One of the oldest recorded standing stones was the Odin stone, which stood between the Stones of Stenness and the Ness of Brodgar. This immense structure had a hole about 5 feet from the ground. Written records point to the stone as a place where people pledged oaths. People married by standing on either side of the stone and joining hands through the hole. However, if things were not going so well, they could return and join hands again to get ‘divorced’.

In the 1840s, an incomer destroyed the stone by pulling it down to use in building a cow house. This caused great disturbance to the people of Orkney, and many attempts were made on the man’s life and property.

Barnhouse was discovered in the 1970’s. What we see today is a reconstruction of what some of these small dwelling sites would have looked like in the past. The buildings have a lot of similarities with those in Skara Brae – The stone dresser opposite the entrance and bed recesses on either side of a central hearth, but there are also differences: two of the 15 buildings discovered are much bigger than the others, and it is thought they may have been communal meeting places.

This small village was disbanded and demolished about 500 years earlier than Skara Brae, but we do not know why. One theory is that it was there to house workers while building the other structures and was destroyed upon completion.

Barnhouse is also well known for being the very first place where fermented ale was discovered in some Unstan pottery. Our special Scottish relationship with drinking alcohol certainly goes back a long way!

Skara Brae, the Orkney Isles

In the 1850s, a major storm hit the west coast of Orkney, leading to the discovery of the Neolithic village of Skara Brae. This is the best-preserved site of the period, including at least 6 dwelling houses and a workshop. There are also signs of the world’s oldest loo.

All the dwelling places are joined by passageways but there are also signs of doors that show a level of privacy was important.

The village was discovered by the resident laird of Skaill House. Visiting Skara Brae also allows entry into this 17^th century mansion house, and it is worth a visit if only to compare the simple dwelling houses of the Neolithic period to this massive house built to serve one family.