whs	Heart of Neolithic Orkney
state party	United Kingdom
type	Cultural
criteria	i, ii, iii, iv
id	514
region	Europe and North America
year	1999
session	23rd
link	http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/514 }}

Skara Brae () is a large stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. It consists of ten clustered houses, and was occupied from roughly 3180 BC–2500 BC. Europe's most complete Neolithic village, Skara Brae gained UNESCO World Heritage Site status as one of four sites comprising "The Heart of Neolithic Orkney." Older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids, it has been called the "Scottish Pompeii" because of its excellent preservation.

Discovery and early exploration

In the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Britain causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, known in Scottish as a ''howe'', which had been a local landmark. When the storm cleared, local villagers found in place of the howe an intact village, albeit without roofs. For about the next 75 years there were no serious scientific investigations of Skara Brae. In one weekend in 1913, the site was plundered by a party with shovels taking away an unknown quantity of artifacts. In 1924 another storm swept away part of the one of the houses and it was determined the site should be made secure and more seriously investigated. The job was given to University of Edinburgh professor Vere Gordon Childe. In mid-1927 Childe traveled to Skara Brae for the first time.

Neolithic lifestyle

Skara Brae's inhabitants were apparently makers and users of grooved ware, a distinctive style of pottery that appeared in northern Scotland not long before the establishment of the village. The houses used earth sheltering but, being sunk into the ground, they were built into mounds of pre-existing domestic waste known as "middens". Although the midden provided the houses with a small degree of stability, its most important purpose was to act as a layer of insulation against Orkney's harsh winter climate. On average, the houses measure in size with a large square room containing a hearth which would have been used for heating and cooking. Given the number of homes, it seems likely that no more than fifty people lived in Skara Brae at any given time.

It is by no means clear what fuels the inhabitants used in the stone hearths. Vere Gordon Childe was sure that the fuel was peat, but a detailed analysis of vegetation patterns and trends suggests that climatic conditions conducive to the development of thick beds of peat did not develop in this part of Orkney until after Skara Brae was abandoned. Other obvious possible fuel sources include driftwood and animal dung, but there's evidence that dried seaweed may have been a significant source. At a number of sites in Orkney investigators have found a glassy, slag-like material called "Kelp" or "Cramp" that may be the residue of burnt seaweed.

The dwellings contain a number of stone-built pieces of furniture, including cupboards, dressers, seats, and storage boxes. Each dwelling was entered through a low doorway that had a stone slab door that could be closed "by a bar that slid in bar-holes cut in the stone door jambs". A sophisticated drainage system was even incorporated into the village's design, one that included a primitive form of toilet in each dwelling. Seven of the houses have similar furniture, with the beds and dresser in the same places in each house. The dresser stands against the wall opposite the door, and would have been the first thing seen by anyone entering the dwelling. Each of these houses has the larger bed on the right side of the doorway and the smaller on the left. Lloyd Laing noted that this pattern accorded with Hebridean custom up to the early 20th century suggesting that the husband's bed was the larger and the wife's was the smaller. The discovery of beads and paint-pots in some of the smaller beds may support this interpretation. Additional support may come from the recognition that stone boxes lie to the left of most doorways, forcing the person entering the house to turn to the right-hand, 'male', side of the dwelling. At the front of each bed lie the stumps of stone pillars that may have supported a canopy of fur; another link with recent Hebridean style.

The eighth house has no storage boxes or dresser, but has been divided into something resembling small cubicles. When this house was excavated, fragments of stone, bone and antler were found. It is possible that this building was used as a house to make simple tools such as bone needles or flint axes. The presence of heat-damaged volcanic rocks and what appears to be a flue, support this interpretation. House 8 is distinctive in other ways as well. It is a stand-alone structure not surrounded by midden, instead there is a "porch" protecting the entrance through walls that are over thick.

The site provided the earliest known record of the human flea ''Pulex irritans'' in Europe.

The Grooved Ware People who built Skara Brae were primarily pastoralists who raised cattle and sheep. Childe originally believed that the inhabitants did not practice agriculture, but excavations in 1972 unearthed seed grains from a midden suggesting that barley was cultivated. Fish bones and shells are common in the middens indicating that dwellers supplemented their diet with seafood. Limpet shells are common and may have been fish-bait that was kept in stone boxes in the homes. The boxes were formed from thin slabs with joints carefully sealed with clay to render them waterproof.

This pastoral lifestyle is in sharp contrast to some of the more exotic interpretations of the culture of the Skara Brae people. Euan MacKie suggested that Skara Brae might be the home of a privileged theocratic class of wise men who engaged in astronomical and magical ceremonies at nearby sites like the Ring of Brodgar and the Standing Stones of Stenness. Graham and Anna Ritchie cast doubt on this interpretation noting that there is no archaeological evidence for this claim, although a Neolithic "low road" connects Skara Brae with the magnificent chambered tomb of Maeshowe, passing near both of these sites. Low roads connect Neolithic ceremonial sites throughout Britain.

Dating and abandonment

Originally, Childe believed that the settlement dated from around 500 BC. This interpretation was coming under increasing challenge by the time new excavations in 1972–73 settled the question. Radiocarbon results obtained from samples collected during these excavations indicates that occupation of Skara Brae began about 3180 BC with occupation continuing for about six hundred years. Around 2500 BC, after the climate changed, becoming much colder and wetter, the settlement may have been abandoned by its inhabitants. There are many theories as to why the people of Skara Brae left, particularly popular interpretations involve a major storm. Evan Hadingham combined evidence from found objects with the storm scenario to imagine a dramatic end to the settlement:

As was the case at Pompeii, the inhabitants seem to have been taken by surprise and fled in haste, for many of their prized possessions, such as necklaces made from animal teeth and bone, or pins of walrus ivory, were left behind. The remains of choice meat joints were discovered in some of the beds, presumably forming part of the villagers' last supper. One woman was in such haste that her necklace broke as she squeezed through the narrow doorway of her home, scattering a stream of beads along the passageway outside as she fled the encroaching sand.

Anna Ritchie strongly disagrees with catastrophic interpretations of the village's abandonment:

A popular myth would have the village abandoned during a massive storm that threatened to bury it in sand instantly, but the truth is that its burial was gradual and that it had already been abandoned — for what reason, no one can tell.

The original site was farther from the sea than it is today, and it is possible that Skara Brae was built adjacent to a freshwater lagoon protected by dunes. 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 and subsequent protection by a seawall. 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.

Artifacts

A number of enigmatic Carved Stone Balls have been found at the site and some are on display in the museum. Similar objects have been found throughout northern Scotland. The spiral ornamentation on some of these "balls" has been stylistically linked to objects found in the Boyne Valley in Ireland. Similar symbols have been found carved into stone lintels and bed posts. These symbols, sometimes referred to as "runic writings", have been subjected to controversial translations. For example, Castleden suggested that "colons" found punctuating vertical and diagonal symbols may represent separations between words.

Lumps of red ochre found here and at other Neolithic sites have been interpreted as evidence that body painting may have been practiced. Nodules of haematite with highly polished surfaces have been found as well; the shiny surfaces suggest that the nodules were used to finish leather.

Other artefacts excavated on site made of animal, fish, bird, and whalebone, whale and walrus ivory, and killer whale teeth included awls, needles, knives, beads, adzes, shovels, small bowls and, most remarkably, ivory pins up to long. These pins are very similar to examples found in passage graves in the Boyne Valley, another piece of evidence suggesting a linkage between the two cultures. So-called Skaill knives were commonly used tools in Skara Brae; these consist of large flakes knocked off sandstone cobbles. Skaill knives are found throughout Orkney and Shetland.

The 1972 excavations reached layers that had remained waterlogged and had preserved items that otherwise would have been destroyed. These include a twisted skein of heather, one of a very few known examples of Neolithic rope and a wooden handle.

Related sites in Orkney

A comparable — if smaller — site exists at Rinyo on Rousay. Unusually, no Maeshowe-type tombs have been found on Rousay and although there are a large number of Orkney–Cromarty chambered cairns, these were built by unstan ware people.

Knap of Howar on the Orkney island of Papa Westray, is a well preserved Neolithic farmstead. Dating from 3500 BC to 3100 BC, it is similar in design to Skara Brae, but from an earlier period, and it is thought to be the oldest preserved standing building in northern Europe.

There is also a site currently under excavation at Links of Noltland on Westray that appears to have similarities to Skara Brae.

World Heritage status

"The Heart of Neolithic Orkney" was inscribed as a World Heritage site in December 1999. In addition to Skara Brae the site includes Maeshowe, the Ring of Brodgar, the Standing Stones of Stenness and other nearby sites. It is managed by Historic Scotland, whose 'Statement of Significance' for the site begins:

The monuments at the heart of Neolithic Orkney and Skara Brae proclaim the triumphs of the human spirit in early ages and isolated places. They were approximately contemporary with the mastabas of the archaic period of Egypt (first and second dynasties), the brick temples of Sumeria, and the first cities of the Harappa culture in India, and a century or two earlier than the Golden Age of China. Unusually fine for their early date, and with a remarkably rich survival of evidence, these sites stand as a visible symbol of the achievements of early peoples away from the traditional centres of civilisation.

Contemporary culture

The children's novel ''Il tesoro di Skara Brae'' by Diletta Nicastro, is the second episode of the series ''The World of Mauro & Lisi'', a saga set in Skara Brae and other Neolithic sites in the area. The children's novel ''The Boy with the Bronze Axe'' by Kathleen Fidler is set during the last days of Skara Brae. A stone was unveiled in Skara Brae on 12 April 2008 marking the anniversary of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becoming the first man to orbit the Earth in 1961. There is a location called "Skara Brae" in the computer game ''The Bard's Tale'', which is set in a fictionalised Orkney.

In the 2008 adventure film, ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'', Dr. Jones' lecture on the culture of Skara Brae is interrupted with the news that he has been put on indefinite suspension from the university.

In his 2010 book ''At Home'', Bill Bryson discusses the discovery of Skara Brae and Vere Gordon Childe's involvement.

See also

Ring of Brodgar

Standing Stones of Stenness

Maeshowe

World Heritage Sites in Scotland

Timeline of prehistoric Scotland

Oldest buildings in the United Kingdom

Footnotes

References

External links

Historic Scotland Official Website

Orkneyjar

Skara Brae and its carved stone balls

RCAHMS

Category:4th-millennium BC architecture Category:Populated places established in the 4th millennium BC Category:Archaeological sites in Orkney Category:Prehistoric Orkney Category:Buildings and structures in Orkney Category:Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Scotland Category:Stone Age sites in Scotland Category:World Heritage Sites in Scotland Category:Neolithic settlements Category:Megalithic monuments in Europe Category:Former populated places in Scotland Category:Historic Scotland properties Category:Museums in Orkney Category:Archaeology museums in Scotland Category:History museums in Scotland Category:Neolithic Scotland

cs:Skara Brae cy:Skara Brae da:Skara Brae de:Skara Brae el:Σκάρα Μπρε (νεολιθικός οικισμός) es:Skara Brae eu:Skara Brae fr:Skara Brae it:Skara Brae he:סקארה ברי nl:Skara Brae ja:スカラ・ブレイ no:Skara Brae pl:Skara Brae pt:Skara Brae ru:Скара-Брей si:ස්කාරා බ්රෙයි simple:Skara Brae sh:Skara Brae fi:Skara Brae sv:Skara Brae uk:Скара-Брей

Official name	Skara
Image shield	Skara vapen.svg
Pushpin map	Sweden
Coordinates region	SE
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name	Sweden
Subdivision type3	Municipality
Subdivision name3	Skara Municipality
Subdivision type2	County
Subdivision name2	Västra Götaland County
Subdivision type1	Province
Subdivision name1	Västergötland
Established date3	988
Established title3	Charter
Area footnotes
Area total km2	7.49
Population as of	2005-12-31
Population total	18595
Population density km2	1464
Timezone	CET
Utc offset	+1
Timezone dst	CEST
Utc offset dst	+2
Coordinates display	displayinline,title
Website	}}

Skara is a locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18595 inhabitants in 2005. Despite its small size, it has a long educational and ecclesiastical history. One of Sweden's oldest high schools, ''Katedralskolan'' (cathedral school), is situated in Skara. When the new gymnasium was built in 1988, it kept the old name and the old school was named Djäkneskolan. (The word ''djäkne'' comes from ''diakon'', meaning servant of the church.)

Geography

Skara is located by the E20 motorway, about 130 kilometers northeast of Gothenburg, in the centre of Västergötland.

The name Skara comes from ''Skåra'' or ''Skarv'', which means score. It is believed to refer to the terrain.

History

According to local legend, Skara was founded in AD 988, making it one of the oldest cities of Sweden. It was one of only two cities in what was to become Västergötland, the other being Lödöse. Skara was the location for the regional assembly, the ''Thing of all Geats''.

With the Christianization of Sweden, around 1000 AD, Skara became the seat for the bishop and a religious centre for the ensuing centuries. There have been bishops of Skara in an unbroken succession to this day.

Many important assemblies were held in Skara in medieval times. Examples include the important Swedish chancellor meeting in 1326. A meeting of Swedish, Danish and Norwegians in 1458, decided upon the later Kalmar Union.

In the ensuing medieval centuries, monasteries and other churches were completed in the town. The first monastery was for the Dominican order, called the monastery of Saint Olaf, opened in 1234; the other was of the Franciscan order, known as Saint Catherine (or ''Katarina'' in Swedish), recorded in 1259.

The foundations of the Skara Cathedral are believed to stem from around 1050. The current cathedral was inaugurated in 1150, but findings during the last 50 years show it must be at least a century older. Its current appearance, however, stems from renovations in the 1880s by Helgo Zettervall, who also renovated the Cathedral of Uppsala.

Old age

Medieval artifacts have been found in or near the Skara cathedral. A chalice from bishop Adalvard the Elder, dead in 1064, was found in his grave in the 18th century. For a while the ''Adalvardskalken'' was used in the Holy Communion.

Some 44 pages of a book containing texts and hymns of 11th-century Catholic rituals is held and exhibited by the Västergötland museum in Skara. The oldest book in Sweden, it was written between 1100-1150 by Skara monks.

Other ancient objects have been found during excavations of the monasteries and churches.

Education

There is a branch of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (''Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet'') in Skara.

Culture and attractions

There are several music and entertainment artists in Skara, giving it a notable spot among the cities. The Skara Sommarland is a popular amusement park with a reputation well known throughout the nation. Most notable is its water park with water chutes, artificial rafts, etc.

The official museum of Västergötland is in Skara.

See also

Diocese of Skara

Norra Härene Runestone

References

Nordisk Familjebok, see link below.

External links

Skara Tourist Office

Skara - Official site

''Skara'', in ''Nordisk familjebok'' (in Swedish)

Category:Populated places in Västra Götaland County Category:Municipal seats of Västra Götaland County Category:Swedish municipal seats Category:Skaraborg Category:Viking Age populated places

bg:Скара (град) de:Skara fr:Skara id:Skara it:Skara la:Scara nl:Skara (stad) no:Skara nn:Skara pl:Skara pt:Skara ro:Skara fi:Skaran kunta sv:Skara tr:Skara vo:Skara

{{infobox uk place | official name	Brae | country Scotland
population	660
population ref	(2001 census) est. 690 (2006) | os_grid_reference HU359681 | latitude 60.395717 | longitude -1.350230 | post_town SHETLAND | postcode_area ZE | postcode_district ZE2 | dial_code 01806 | constituency_westminster Orkney and Shetland | civil_parish | unitary_scotland Shetland | lieutenancy_scotland Shetland | constituency_scottish_parliament Shetland }}

:''"Brae" is also the Lowland Scots language word for the slope or brow of a hill.''

Brae (Old Norse: ''Breiðeið'', meaning "the wide isthmus") is a settlement on the mainland of the Shetland Islands in Scotland. It is located at the northeast end of Busta Voe, on the narrow isthmus that separates the mainland from Northmavine. Traditionally a fishing village, with the construction of the nearby Sullom Voe Oil Terminal in the 1970s Brae grew rapidly, merging with the nearby village of Northbrae. The village also stages its own Up Helly Aa.

The village is also responsible for supplying the Islands' successful football team with eight players.

The A970 which connects Lerwick to Northmavine forms the main street of Brae. Brae's police and fire stations, schools, and NHS clinic service much of the northern part of the mainland.

Etymology

''Brae'' is the Lowland Scots word for the slope or brow of a hill. The word 'Brae' in Shetland dialect has a different meaning; it may come from the Old Norse word ''breiðr'' meaning broad. The village may take its name from the broad isthmus between Sullom Voe and Busta Voe as opposed to the narrower one a little further north at Mavis Grind. Alternatively the name may mean "a slope to the sea".

Traditional

There is a traditional folk song called "The Rocks of Brae".

References

External links

Brae article at Undiscovered Scotland

Photo of the Brae area

Brae Hotel

Category:Villages in Shetland Category:Portages

es:Brae gd:Bràigh na beinne ro:Brae