Orkney and Shetland's Neolithic Farmers

Until 1850, Skara Brae lay under years of soil sediment. It was fully excavated between 1928 and 1930 by Vere Gordon Childe. Radiocarbon evidence indicates Skara Brae was occupied from about 3100 BC, for about six hundred years. Around 2500 BC, after the climate changed, turning much colder and wet, the settlement may have been abandoned by its inhabitants. This site in the Shetlands made from stone and turf came after all the larger trees had been exhausted for building. They were careful planners and expert builders. The design of the village would have minimized heat loss, so the houses could have been kept comfortably warm quite efficiently. Climatic changes bringing more cold and wet weather to the islands led to infertile areas forming on the hills, encouraging farmers to move to the coast. Bronze age people have left their mark in the form of mysterious stone circles and communal cooking sites or ‘burnt mounds’. Skara Brae's occupants were farmers who bred cows and sheep and grew cereals, but who also hunted red deer and fished. They were skilled craftsmen, working bone and stone, and making pottery; many of the tools, weapons and vessels were richly decorated.
    Originally the site was set back from the shore: coastal erosion now threatens Skara Brae. The village was planned as a cluster of sub-rectangular huts, with interconnecting passages. Their walls were made of sandstone slabs; corbelled walling probably formed the roofs. On the other hand, whale jawbones discovered on the floor of one hut were perhaps originally rafters supporting a thatched roof.
    All the houses had a similar interior design: against the wall facing the door was the dresser (a couple of flagstone shelves supported on stone 'legs'). This may have been the display case for the family's prized possession, carefully positioned to impress visitors. In the centre of each hut was a rectangular hearth; along each side wall was a bed, constructed of three slabs set upright to form a 'box', the house wall forming the fourth side. Above the beds were recesses, and a common feature of the hut interiors is a 'limpet box': a slab-built tank made watertight by clay caulking. The site provided the earliest known record of the human flea. Although the visible buildings give an impression of an organic whole, it is certain that an unknown quantity of additional structures had already been lost to sea erosion before the site's rediscovery. Uncovered remains are known to exist immediately adjacent to the ancient monument, in areas presently covered by fields, and others, of uncertain date, can be seen eroding out of the cliff edge a little to the south of the enclosed area. A substantial stone-built sea-wall protects the uncovered remains from continuing erosion.
There are many theories as to why the people of Skara Brae suddenly left, but there is no solid evidence suggesting why this occurred. Excavation evidence seems to indicate that the village's occupants left in a hurry, perhaps fleeing storm similar to the one which uncovered the site.

 

Southern Shetland