In 1850, a farmer found a secret village. It was later determined to be older than the Great Pyramids of Egypt. Archeologists estimated that 100 people lived in this village named Skara Brae, the “Scottish Pompeii.” The houses were connected to each other by tunnels, and each house could be closed off with a stone door.
Skara Brae is a remarkable Neolithic Age site, comprising ten stone structures located near the Bay of Skaill in Orkney, Scotland. Though the village currently lies by the shore, during its period of habitation around 3100-2500 BCE, it would have been situated further inland. Over centuries, consistent land erosion has significantly altered the landscape, necessitating the reevaluation of interpretations of the site based on its present location.
The name ‘Skara Brae’ is a corruption of the original name ‘Skerrabra’ or ‘Styerrabrae,’ which referred to the mound that covered and thus preserved the village’s buildings. The original name used by its inhabitants remains unknown. Skara Brae is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Traditionally, Skara Brae was said to have been discovered in 1850 CE when a massive storm hit Orkney, uncovering the site by dispersing the sand and soil that had buried it. William Watt, the landowner, noticed the exposed stone walls and initiated excavations, uncovering four stone houses. Realizing the significance of his discovery, he contacted George Petrie, an Orcadian antiquarian. By 1868, Petrie had documented essential finds and further excavated the site, presenting his progress at the April 1867 meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
However, Orcadian writer and historian Dr. Ernest Marwick (1915-1977 CE) claimed that this discovery story was “a complete fiction,” asserting that the ancient site was well known. Marwick cited James Robertson, who recorded the site in 1769 CE, claiming to have found a skeleton with a sword and a Danish axe. Petrie, who catalogued all beads, stone tools, and ornaments found at the site, listed neither swords nor Danish axes, and no weapons other than Neolithic knives have been found, suggesting they were used as tools rather than for warfare. Petrie ceased his work after 1868, but other investigators continued exploring the site.
Following various antiquarians, W. Balfour Stewart further excavated the site in 1913 CE. During this time, unknown parties are believed to have removed important artifacts over a weekend. The nature of these artifacts remains unknown, and whether the thieves were connected to Stewart’s party is unclear. In 1924, the site came under the guardianship of Her Majesty’s Commissioners of Works by the trustees of the Watt estate, who secured the buildings against sea exposure. Another storm in the same year damaged the excavated buildings and destroyed one stone house.
To preserve the site, archaeologist and Edinburgh professor Vere Gordon Childe, along with J. Wilson Paterson, constructed a large sea wall during the summers of 1925 and 1926, enabling them to commence serious work in 1927. In his 1929 report to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Paterson mentioned the traditional story of the 1850 CE storm uncovering the site and Mr. Watt as the landowner, without indicating public knowledge of the village before 1850. Excavations from 1927 onwards uncovered and stabilized Europe’s best-preserved Neolithic village, leading to its designation as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. Today, Historic Scotland administers the village.
The builders of Skara Brae used flagstones to construct their homes, layering them into the earth for support and insulating with middens. All furniture, from dressers to beds, was made of stone. Hearths indicate that homes were heated by fire and had roofs, possibly of turf, with openings serving as chimneys. Despite the scarcity of wood, a wooden handle discovered at the site suggests wood was used for making tools rather than as fuel. Each house shared a common design and layout, and the village had a drainage system and indoor toilets.
Artifacts indicate the inhabitants made grooved ware pottery, leading to their designation as Grooved Ware People. Similar pottery found at other Orkney sites like Maeshowe suggests they raised cattle and sheep, farmed, hunted, and fished. They also crafted tools, jewelry, and ornaments from bone, rock, and stone. Samuel Laing’s 1867 excavations uncovered numerous knives and scrapers, which he believed indicated a manufacturing site for such items. Archaeologist Euan MacKie speculated that Skara Brae was a community of astronomers based on engraved stone balls, though no concrete evidence supports this claim.
A longstanding theory posited that a catastrophic storm buried the village, similar to Pompeii. However, evidence from Graham and Anna Ritchie’s 1970s excavations suggests the village was abandoned for unknown reasons and gradually buried by sand and soil over time, disproving the cataclysm theory. The beads mentioned in Paterson’s 1929 report, often cited to support the storm theory, do not substantiate such an event. The prevailing scholarly view is that Skara Brae’s abandonment and preservation resulted from natural processes rather than a single catastrophic event.
