Prehistoric Scotland - The Orkneys

Prehistoric Scotland ended with the arrival of the Romans in the first century AD and no traces have been found of Neanderthal or early Homo sapiens during the Pleistocene interglacials. The first indications of humans in Scotland dates to the 11th millennium BC and obviously geography was a little different then - for example sea levels were lower than at today so many of the islands of Scotland were attached to the mainland. The larger, present-day island of Great Britain was linked to Continental Europe and much of the present-day North Sea was also dry land until after 4,000 BC. Dogger Bank, for example was part of a large peninsula connected to the European continent.

Prehistoric periods include : -
The Paleolithic - this lasted until the retreat of the ice.
The Mesolithic - lasting until the adoption of farming.
The Neolithic - right up until metalworking started.


Skara Brae - Northern Europe’s best-preserved Neolithic village - discovered in 1850 thanks to winter storms that exposed an immense midden as well as the ruins of ancient stone buildings - inhabited before the Egyptian pyramids were built & flourished for centuries before construction began at Stonehenge. It is some 5,000 years old.

Skara Brae together with the Standing Stones of Stenness, Maeshowe, the Ring of Brodgar and other nearby sites is designated ‘The Heart of Neolithic Orkney’ - a World Heritage since December 1999. Together these monuments and buildings are about 5,000 years old! All of them are managed by Historic Scotland, whose 'Statement of Significance' for the site mentions: "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...Stenness is a unique and early expression of the ritual customs of the people who buried their dead in tombs like Maes Howe and lived in settlements like Skara Brae".

Incredibly, even older is The Knap of Howar on Papa Westray. Radiocarbon dating shows that it was occupied from 3700 BC to 2800 BC!