A Peedie Bit O' Orkney...

Tonight, another one of our wonderful prehistoric sites... which are, literally, everywhere in Orkney - we're so lucky to have a landscape so rich in ancient history.

Older than the pyramids in Egypt, and Stonehenge, we have the stone age village of Skara Brae, situated on the shore of the Bay O' Skaill in the parish of Sandwick... although it wouldn't always have been so close to the sea... storms and the sea have caused a good bit of coastal erosion in the 4,000-odd years of Skara Brae's existence.

Read more about it here: Orkneyjar: Skara Brae

It's discovery was amazing... basically, a great storm in 1850 stripped the grass off the top of a bank, and the outlines of some of the houses were exposed from where they had been buried by a sandstorm many, many years before. Excavation continued for over a century, on and off, and what's left is what we have now... but it's an on-going work to preserve this ancient site from further erosion and damage - you can see one of the houses in the picture above has been covered over, and you'll find most of the site can only be viewed from above the houses.

Below is one of the dwellings, with the hearth in the centre (and there would have been a roof of sorts, with a chimney), beds to the left and right which would have had animal skins to keep you warm, and in front is the stone dresser - way better than Ikea could do, and built to last!

Skara Brae's well worth a visit, followed by a wander on the beach.

And why not order this? A children's book, but a good read - "The Boy With The Bronze Axe" by Kathleen Fidler... The Orcadian Bookshop: The Boy With The Bronze Axe