Donated Skara Brae excavation documents bound for Orkney archives
A collection of documents relating to the excavation of Skara Brae in the late 1920s is bound for the Orkney Library and Archives. Read more
Category: Settlements
Toftsness Neolithic settlement, Sanday
Toftsness was the second Sanday settlement investigation in the 1980s - revealing a domestic and funerary landscape spanning millennia. Read more
Pool Neolithic settlement, Sanday
In the 1980s, two Neolithic settlements were excavated in the island of Sanday. Today we briefly look at Pool on the island’s south-western coast. Read more
Link: Skara Brae’s updated statement of significance published
Historic Environment Scotland's updated statement of significance for Skara Brae is available to download. Read more
Video: TV presenter’s thoughts on Skara Brae during 1964 visit
A splendid video from BBC Archives, featuring Cathal O'Shannon visiting the Neolithic settlement of Skara Brae. Read more
Rinyo Neolithic settlement, Rousay
In the winter of 1937/38, James Yorston was exploring the Braes of Rinyo, Rousay, when he came across stone slabs protruding from the turf. Yorston went on to expose the outline of two structures and portions of four others. Read more
The Stonehall settlement – part three
Excavated over a five-year period, the Stonehall Farm section was the most extensive area of the Neolithic settlement site - “a third location of early Neolithic settlement running parallel with the occupation of Stonehall Knoll and Meadow. Read more
The Stonehall settlement – part two
The section of the Neolithic settlement designated Stonehall Meadow was an area of mounds to the north-east of the Stonehall Knoll, where excavation revealed four Neolithic structures, three of which were in a poor state of preservation. Read more
The Stonehall settlement – part one
Lying in the shadow of the Cuween chambered cairn, the Stonehall settlement lies a few miles to the west of Crossiecrown, Wideford Hill and Smerquoy. Read more
The Smerquoy Neolithic settlement
Five years after the Wideford Hill settlement excavations, fieldwalking along the hill’s south-western base recovered tantalising evidence a second Neolithic settlement on low ground beneath the nearby chambered cairn. Read more
Wideford Hill settlement – Orkney’s first evidence of Neolithic wooden structures
The Wideford Hill settlement, in use from c3600-2900BC, lies at the north-western foot of the hill, south-west of Crossiecrown and east of the Stonehall settlement. Its discovery and excavation in 2002-2003 revealed a missing chapter from the biography of Neolithic Orkney – timber houses. Read more
The Crossiecrown settlement – part two
Parallels with Barnhouse and the Ness of Brodgar hint that the Crossiecrown “double-house” was more than a dwelling. The quality of the internal stonework, the deposited artefacts and the fact the Red House had been “decorated” suggests we have another example of a “big house” – a structure with “enhanced ancestral significance and status”. Read more
Crossiecrown settlement – part one
The Crossiecrown settlement lay in the northern shadow of Wideford Hill, on low ground to the north-east of the Quanterness cairn. Occupied from around 3300BC to 1800BC, the site spanned the Orcadian Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Read more
The Knap of Howar, Papa Westray
Until the early years of the 21st century, the two buildings at the Knap of Howar had the distinction of being the earliest evidence of Neolithic settlement in Orkney. Read more
Visit Skara Brae virtually with new digital 3D model
A new 3D model of Skara Brae is offering online visitors an immersive digital experience of the 5,000-year-old Neolithic settlement. Read more
The Knowes of Trotty – a Bronze Age cemetery and Neolithic settlement site
The Knowes of Trotty form a Bronze Age barrow cemetery that is the only one of its kind in northern Britain and the largest between here and southern England. Read more
Wasbister settlement and disc barrow
During the Bronze Age, people gravitated towards the sites of already ancient monuments to bury their dead. As a result, clusters of barrow mounds can often be found around chambered cairns and other Neolithic monuments. Read more
Skara Brae – the abandonment
The idea that Skara Brae was abandoned overnight in the face of a cataclysm is entirely incorrect. Unfortunately, like many myths surrounding the settlement, it is still often presented as indisputable fact. Read more
Skara Brae – the date and extent of the settlement
In 2017, a re-evaluation of Orcadian radiocarbon dates suggested that occupation at Skara Brae began around 2900BC, but was abandoned a short time later. The site was re-occupied between 2800-2700BC and finally abandoned around 2500BC. But are we seeing something else? Read more
Skara Brae – the houses
Skara Brae followed the pattern since noted at other Orcadian Neolithic settlements – houses were built, inhabited, abandoned and rebuilt, usually on the same site. Read more
Skara Brae
Hailed the best-preserved Neolithic village in northern Europe, Skara Brae stands on the southern shore of the Bay of Skaill, in Orkney’s West Mainland. Read more
