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3180BCc. 3180–2500 BC · West Mainland, Orkney

Skara Brae and the Neolithic heart of Orkney

The stone-built Neolithic houses of Skara Brae beside the Orkney shore
Photo: Stuart Wilding. CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

On Orkney's west coast a farming community built a cluster of stone houses with dressers, box beds and hearths, linked by covered passages, which a storm uncovered in 1850. A few miles inland, the Ring of Brodgar, the Stones of Stenness, the Maeshowe tomb and the Ness of Brodgar excavations show the islands were a ceremonial centre for Neolithic Britain.

Sites

  1. Site 1: Skara BraeEight connected stone houses with original stone furniture, and a replica house.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: Ring of BrodgarA wide stone circle on a strip of land between two lochs.Map ↗
  3. Site 3: MaeshoweChambered tomb lit by the midwinter sunset, with Norse runes inside.Map ↗

Guides who take you there

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More from the Prehistory

Read more: reference. Summary written by History-Tours.com.