Skara Brae ( / ˈ s k ær ə ˈ b r eɪ / ) is a Neolithic village made of stone, located on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney, near the Bay of Skaill. A storm uncovered stone buildings hidden in the coastal sand dunes. Today, visitors can see ten buildings, four passageways, and the remains of stone tools and objects.
People lived at Skara Brae from about 3180 BC to around 2500 BC. It is Europe's best-preserved Neolithic village. Skara Brae was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of "The Heart of Neolithic Orkney," which includes four locations.
Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for protecting the site. It works with groups such as the Orkney Islands Council, NatureScot (Scottish Natural Heritage), and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The site is open to visitors all year.
Name and etymology
The modern name Skara Brae shows the mix of old languages in Orkney, where parts from Old Norse and Scots often appear in place names. The word "brae" comes from Scots and means "slope" or "hillside," a term used in Scotland to describe raised ground or a bank above lower land.
The first part of the name, "Skara," comes from older names like Skerrabra or Styerrabrae. These names were used to describe the grassy mound that once covered the hidden settlement. These older names show the strong influence of Scandinavian languages on Orkney’s place names after Norse people settled there in the early medieval period.
The name Skara Brae originally described the natural hill that hid the ancient village, not the village itself. In the winter of 1850, a strong storm removed soil and sand from the mound, revealing the stone houses below. This discovery led to the name Skara Brae being used for the prehistoric settlement that was later studied by archaeologists.
Like many places in Orkney, the modern name describes the natural feature where the ancient site was found, not the name used by the Neolithic people who lived there more than 5,000 years ago.
Discovery and early exploration
In the winter of 1850, a powerful storm struck Scotland, causing a lot of damage and more than 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm removed soil from a large, uneven hill. After the storm ended, local villagers saw the shape of a village made up of several small houses that had no roofs. William Graham Watt of Skaill House, the son of a local landowner and a self-taught geologist, started digging at the site. However, after uncovering four houses, the work stopped in 1868.
The site was left untouched until 1913, when a group of people with shovels took an unknown number of artifacts from the area over a single weekend. In 1924, another storm damaged part of one of the houses. This led to the decision that the site needed protection and proper study. The task was given to Professor V. Gordon Childe from the University of Edinburgh, who first visited Skara Brae in mid-1927.
In 2019, a set of photographs showing Childe and four women at the excavation site were studied again. It was once thought the women were visitors or local people, but a note on the back of the photos stated they were "4 of [Childe's] lady students." This suggests they helped with the excavation. The women are possibly Margaret Simpson (mentioned in Childe's writings about Skara Brae), Margaret Mitchell, Mary Kennedy, and Margaret Cole.
Neolithic lifestyle
The people who lived at Skara Brae made and used a special type of pottery called grooved ware, which had recently appeared in northern Scotland. At first, it was thought that the settlement was underground, but now it is understood that the buildings were free-standing stone houses. These houses were insulated and stabilized using midden, which is a layer of waste material. Each house had a similar layout: a central hearth, beds on either side of the hearth, and a dresser placed opposite the entrance.
Each home had a low doorway with a stone slab door. The door could be closed using a bar made of bone that slid into holes in the stone door jambs. Underneath at least five of the houses, a series of drains were built, though the full extent of this system is not yet known.
Seven of the houses had similar furniture, with beds and dressers placed in the same positions in each home. The dresser stood against the wall opposite the door and was the first thing seen by someone entering the dwelling. In each of these homes, a larger bed was on the right side of the doorway, and a smaller bed was on the left. Lloyd Laing noted that this pattern matched Hebridean customs up to the early 20th century, suggesting the larger bed was for the husband and the smaller for the wife. Beads and paint pots found in some smaller beds may support this idea. Stone boxes placed to the left of most doorways forced people entering the house to turn toward the right-hand side, which was associated with the male side of the dwelling. At the front of each bed, the stumps of stone pillars were found, which may have supported a canopy of fur, a feature also seen in recent Hebridean styles.
House 8 was different from the others. It had no storage boxes or dressers and was divided into small rooms. Fragments of stone, bone, and antler were found there, suggesting it may have been used to make tools like bone needles or flint axes. Heat-damaged volcanic rocks and what appears to be a flue support this idea. House 8 is also unique because it is a standalone structure not surrounded by midden. Instead, it is above ground, with walls over 2 meters (6.6 feet) thick and a "porch" that protects the entrance.
It is unclear what material the people burned in their hearths. Some believed the fuel was peat, but evidence suggests thick peat beds in this area of Orkney did not form until after Skara Brae was abandoned. Other possible fuels include driftwood, animal dung, and dried seaweed. At some sites in Orkney, a glassy, slag-like material called "kelp" or "cramp" has been found, which may be leftover burnt seaweed.
Skara Brae is the earliest known site in Europe where the human flea (Pulex irritans) was found.
The people who built Skara Brae were primarily pastoralists, raising cattle, pigs, and sheep. At first, it was thought they did not farm, but seeds from barley were found in a midden in 1972, suggesting they grew crops. Fish bones and shells are common in the midden, showing the people ate seafood. Limpet shells, which may have been used as fish bait, were stored in stone boxes. These boxes were made from thin slabs sealed with clay to keep them waterproof.
This pastoral lifestyle contrasts with some earlier ideas about the culture of Skara Brae. Euan MacKie suggested that the people of Skara Brae might have been a privileged religious group who performed ceremonies at nearby sites like the Ring of Brodgar and the Standing Stones of Stenness. However, Graham and Anna Ritchie questioned this idea, noting no archaeological evidence supports it. A Neolithic "low road" connects Skara Brae to these sites and ends at the chambered tomb of Maeshowe. These roads linked Neolithic ceremonial sites across Britain.
Dating and abandonment
Originally, Childe thought the settlement was built around 500 BC. However, by the time new excavations took place between 1972 and 1973, many people had started to question this idea. Tests using carbon dating on samples collected during these excavations showed that people began living at Skara Brae about 3180 BC. They lived there for roughly six hundred years. Around 2500 BC, the climate changed, becoming much colder and wetter, and the settlement may have been abandoned. Many theories explain why the people left, with one popular idea suggesting a major storm played a role. Evan Hadingham used evidence from objects found at the site and the storm idea to describe how the settlement might have ended:
The people may have been caught off guard by the storm and left quickly. Many valuable items, like necklaces made from animal teeth and bones or pins made from walrus ivory, were left behind. Some beds had remains of meat, possibly from the villagers' final meal. One woman broke her necklace as she rushed through a narrow doorway, leaving a trail of beads outside her home as she fled the moving sand.
Anna Ritchie disagrees with the idea that a storm caused the village to be abandoned. She says the village was not buried suddenly by a storm but was instead slowly covered by sand. She also notes that the village was already empty before this happened, though no one knows why.
The site was once farther from the sea and may have been built next to a freshwater lagoon protected by sand dunes. While the visible buildings look like they form a complete group, many other structures were lost to the sea before the site was rediscovered and protected by a seawall. Remains of the settlement are known to exist near the ancient monument in areas now covered by fields. Other remains, of uncertain age, are also being exposed by the sea near the cliff to the south of the protected area.
Artefacts
Mysterious carved stone balls have been discovered at the site, and some are displayed in the museum. Similar objects have been found in northern Scotland. The spiral patterns on some of these balls look similar to designs found in the Boyne Valley in Ireland. The same symbols have been carved into stone lintels and bed posts. These symbols, sometimes called "runic writings," have led to different interpretations. For example, author Rodney Castleden proposed that the "colons" found next to vertical and diagonal symbols might separate words.
Red ochre found here and at other Neolithic sites has been linked to body painting.
Nodules of haematite with smooth surfaces were also discovered. The shiny surfaces suggest these nodules were used to polish leather.
Pottery jars with a capacity of up to 30 liters were found in several Skara Brae homes. Analysis of a greenish slime at the bottom of one jar showed it once held an alcoholic drink made from oats and barley, mixed with ingredients like hemlock, deadly nightshade, and henbane, which can be deadly in large amounts.
Other items found on the site include tools and decorations made from animal bones, fish bones, bird bones, whalebone, walrus ivory, and orca teeth. These items include awls, needles, knives, beads, adzes, shovels, small bowls, and ivory pins as long as 25 centimeters (9.8 inches). These pins resemble those found in passage graves in the Boyne Valley, showing a possible connection between the cultures. The Skaill knife, a common tool in Skara Brae, was made from a sharp stone flake broken off a sandstone cobble. This tool is named after the Bay of Skaill on Orkney, where Skara Brae is located. Skaill knives have been found across Orkney and Shetland.
In 1972, excavations uncovered layers that had been waterlogged, preserving items that would otherwise have been lost. These included a twisted bundle of heather, one of the few known examples of Neolithic rope, and a wooden handle.
In 2016, a carved whalebone figurine called "Skara Brae Buddo" was found in a box at Stromness Museum. Estimated to be 5,000 years old, the figurine has four holes positioned like eyes, a mouth, and a navel. The figurine was rediscovered because of a sketch made by 19th-century antiquarian George Petrie.
Related sites in Orkney
Knap of Howar, located on the Orkney island of Papa Westray, is a well-preserved Neolithic farm. Built between 3500 BC and 3100 BC, it is similar in design to Skara Brae but older. It is believed to be the oldest preserved standing building in northern Europe.
The Barnhouse Settlement is near Loch of Harray on the Orkney Mainland, close to the Standing Stones of Stenness. Excavations from 1986 to 1991 uncovered the foundations of at least 15 houses. These homes share features with the early phase of Skara Brae, such as central hearths, beds against walls, stone dressers, and internal drains. However, the Barnhouse houses appear to have been free-standing structures. The settlement dates back to about 3000 BC.
A similar but smaller site is found at Rinyo on Rousay, Orkney. Unlike other areas in Orkney, no tombs similar to Maeshowe have been found on Rousay. While many chambered cairns exist there, these were built by people associated with Unstan ware pottery.
Another site, currently being excavated at Links of Noltland on Westray, shows similarities to Skara Brae.
World Heritage status
"The Heart of Neolithic Orkney" was listed as a World Heritage site in December 1999. The site includes Skara Brae, Maeshowe, the Ring of Brodgar, the Standing Stones of Stenness, and other nearby places. It is managed by Historic Environment Scotland, whose "Statement of Significance" explains:
The monuments at the Heart of Neolithic Orkney and Skara Brae show the achievements of people in early times and remote areas. These sites were built around the same time as early Egyptian tombs, Sumerian temples, and the first cities in the Harappa culture in India. They were also built about a century or two before the Golden Age of China. These sites are unusually well-preserved for their age and have many remains that help us understand early human life. They are a clear example of the accomplishments of people far from the usual centers of ancient civilizations.
Some areas and services were closed during parts of 2020 and into 2021 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Risk from climate change
In 2019, a risk assessment was done to check how likely the site is to be harmed by climate change. A report by Historic Environment Scotland, the Orkney Islands Council, and others said that the entire Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site, especially Skara Brae, is very vulnerable to climate change because of rising sea levels, more rainfall, and other problems. The report also pointed out that Skara Brae could be partly destroyed by one very strong storm.