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Skara Brae
In the winter on 1850 a wild storm stripped the grass from the high dune known as Skara Brae in the Bay of Skaill on mainland Orkney. An immense midden or refuse heap was uncovered. So too were the ruins of ancient dwellings. What came to light in that storm proved to be the best preserved neolithic village in northern Europe. The village of Skara Brae was inhabited before the Egyptian pyramids were built and flourished many centuries before construction began at Stonehenge. It is some 5000 years old. The structures of this semi-subterranean village survive in impressive condition as does the furniture in the village houses.
Skara Brae had two phases. Most of what we see belongs to the second and later phase of the village. Below that are the remains of an earlier village laid out on a different plan. The doorway and stump of wall below on the edge of the settlement which is no exposed is part of the earlier village because its built on a lower level. To see more would mean further excavation but to do that would mean destoying a large part of House 4.
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