Neolithical Mystery Tour

Ness of Brodgar

Everyone living at Skara Brae knew the path to the Ness of Brodgar, just five miles away. It was the heart of their ceremonial life. Today the area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site called the Heart of Neolithic Orkney. This narrow strip of land (known as a ness) between Loch Stenness and Loch Harray was the central feature of a large basin, home to many farms in the era. The Ring of Brodgar would have been a central fixture of the landscape.

Begun around 2500 BC, Brodgar was not the first stone circle in the area. The Stones of Stenness, just across a causeway, were already 700 years old when Brodgar was begun. (Another henge up the hill, Bookan, never got any stones.) Another Neolithic village, Barnhouse, is near Stenness. A half mile beyond that is the Maeshowe chambered cairn. More recently discovered is the huge ceremonial complex of buildings being excavated near the narrow tip of the ness and now known as the Ness of Brodgar.

This makes for a stunning collection of Neolithic sites within a mile and a half – literally within sight – of one another. Said another way: Anyone living at Skara Brae could walk to the Ness of Brodgar, visit Bookan, walk through the Ring of Brodgar, on down through the Ness of Brodgar complex, visit the then-ancient Stones of Stenness, stop to see a relative at Barnhouse, go on to Maeshowe tomb – and be home for supper.

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Ring of Brodgar

The Ring of Brodgar dominates the surrounding landscape. Around 2500 BC people began digging a deep circular ditch (17 feet deep and 100 yards across) into the underlying stone. They also created a raised earthen platform inside the ditch. Together, the ditch and platform make a massive henge monument. Stones came later. (Standing stones are not necessary for a henge. Indeed some henges never had stones, like nearby Bookan.) When work on Brodgar stopped (certainly by 2000 BC) there were 60 stones, of which 27 remain.

It is likely that the henge was used as a ceremonial site for some time before the first stones were erected. The existence of two causeways in and out of the henge and aligned with the landform of the ness suggests that travelers traveled through the henge on journeys down the ness and on to Stenness and Maeshowe.

Some archeologists suspect the adding of stones became a competitive behavior. Groups would erect stones from their neighborhoods, thus gaining prestige for their clan or kin group. If so, then the stones probably memorialized (and embellished) something that was already considered sacred or revered. In other words, the ring did not have to be "finished" before it was useful.

The question of whether Brodgar was used for astronomical observations remains unsettled in research. Certainly there are celestial alignments. Some archeologists suggest that certain elements (nearby mounds, for example) were added for observational purposes. Yet it is possible to say that astronomical alignments with stones were not necessary for this monument to serve this community.

Brodgar was the last major monument to be built here.

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Ness of Brodgar Dig

In the spring of 2003 an Orkney farmer plowed up a large stone that had purposely been notched. Even before this unearthing in a farm field, archeologists led by Dr. Nick Card had become suspicious that something significant might lurk beneath. A geophysical probe in 2002 had shown subsoil anomalies "indicative of settlement." Oh, boy, were they right.

In summer 2004 they dug exploratory trenches and hit Neolithic pay dirt: walls of buildings. After that, Ness of Brodgar discoveries were off to the races with excavations every summer that revealed progressively more of a complex of buildings. Dig season became an exciting time in Orkney, the summer highlight in the islands. It attracted archeologists, student dig crews, retired volunteers, and flocks of tourists.

Ness of Brodgar finds have been amazing. To date 27 structures have been identified; more are known to lie beneath the farm buildings and the neighboring house. Some are massive; structure 10 was 82 feet long and 66 feet wide with walls 13 feet thick. The sheer size suggests that it was built to be impressive. This, plus the number of buildings in one location, suggested to Dr. Card's team that this was no ordinary village. They began to see the area as a ceremonial center of some sort. (Inevitably it got dubbed a "Neolithic temple complex," a fanciful but enticing name.) How the people of that age thought about this place is a key question. Stones with carved decorations and remnants of paint suggest they strived to embellish their daily lives.

Whatever the builders' intentions, they did it up big. The full extent of their efforts is still not known. Excavation here will continue for years to come.

Yet nothing startles the senses like what scientists found about the demise of Structure 10. Somewhere between 2400 and 2200 BC there came of day of feasting – and ceremonial demolition. Hundreds of cattle were slaughtered, their tibia bones laid around the walls and their upturned skulls placed inside. After the feast several red deer were laid on top of the bones and the building was pulled down, largely destroyed. With that, the Ness of Brodgar site appears to have been abandoned.

How can the events of one particular day from more than 4,000 years ago be known? That is a tribute to the skill and painstaking work of the archeologists. Evidence of these events also represents a tantalizing suggestion that life had fundamentally changed in Orkney. (No new stone circles were ever built again, either.) The Neolithic had somehow come to an end and a new era was begun. Had a powerful leader suggested a new way of life? Had the old "religion" lost its magic?

I have had the great privilege to stand in these ruins on a quiet night, alone amidst the rubble of great dreams and huge ambitions now gone 5,000 years. If one can conjure up this lost age anywhere, it is here.

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Watchstone

Towering 19 feet above passing traffic, the Watchstone sits at the end of the narrow bridge connecting to the Ness of Brodgar. It is believed to have had a partner stone nearby, now lost. The two together were thought to be outliers of the nearby Stones of Stenness. (Some suggest that two stones would have marked a ceremonial entranceway for travel from the ness to the Ring of Brodgar stone circle.)

In Neolithic times Loch Harray (on the right) would have been a marshy lowland. Today the ness is narrower than it would have been 5,000 years ago. Deep history pervades daily life in Orkney. People living nearby drive home from work past the standing stones, over the little bridge where swans swim with their cygnets, and on past the old farmhouse with the Neolithic temple in the back yard.

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Stones of Stenness

The Stones of Stenness is, in all likelihood, the oldest megalithic stone circle in the United Kingdom. Stenness is some 700 years older than either Brodgar or Stonehenge. Any Neolithic traveler coming from Brodgar and then through the "temple" site was coming to a place that was already ancient and venerated.

The Stones of Stenness, some 19 feet tall, are bigger than those of Brodgar. Plus, the Stones of Stenness exhibit great character. Only four remain standing out of what might have been an oval of 12 stones, although there is doubt that Stenness was ever "completed." A ditch once surrounded the ring, but little of it remains today.

The center of the Stenness ring features a hearth, reminiscent of those seen in places like Skara Brae and other houses. This hearth lends a particular sense of human scale and suggests the human presence. Brodgar tends to be viewed from the outside looking in, as a monument to be observed. But at Stenness it is possible to walk among the stones, sit on the grass and be enveloped. One can easily imagine a night 5,000 years ago with people gathered in a ceremonial or communal spirit.

Today the stones are in the care of Historic Environment Scotland but they stand on a local farm and, as such, are the property of the farmer. He grazes sheep there, a nice touch of continuity with the ancient farming that came in with the Neolithic Age.

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Barnhouse

Barnhouse settlement is another village not unlike Skara Brae, but this one is only 150 yards from the Stones of Stenness on the shores of Loch Harray. It was in use about the same time as Stenness, which suggests to many that there was a ceremonial connection. Perhaps it was the home of "priests" who oversaw rites carried out at the stones.

Discovered in 1984, the Barnhouse site has been excavated. The lower courses of the stone walls were reconstructed, and these are the walls seen today. One building, Structure 8, is of particular interest because of its size and certain features. Perhaps most interesting is that there is a hearth in the entrance. (Did visitors have to leap over the fire to enter?) Researchers believe the hearth was either a symbolic feature or it was was paved over from a pre-existing layout. Still, it hints at symbolism and purpose.

Much about the site suggests the existence of something like a "priesthood," but that might be suggesting something altogether more organized than people alive then intended. Nevertheless, ritual life seems at the heart of it. The possibility exists that ceremonial life changed during this time, with rites that had taken place outdoors at the Stones of Stenness moving indoors to this building.

I can tell you that the whole complex of standing stones and buildings has the power to set your mind spinning. It conjures mental pictures of priests leading processions under a full moon, ancient people chanting, fires burning -- the whole Hollywood Druid bit. But these were not Druids and they weren't Celtic (at that time) so it is best to entertain fantasies only briefly before coming back to Earth.

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Maeshowe Tomb

While other megalithic monuments in the Ness of Brodgar area might be puzzling, nothing about Maeshowe is doubtful. It is a tomb.

Underneath its rounded mound of grass is a massive stone chambered cairn, monumental in construction. It is the obvious expression of ancestor worship by an elite. The progession of its construction gives fascinating insights into the thinking of the time.

From the air looking down the henge is obvious, with a ditch that was filled with water at one time. Archeology here suggests that the first structures at this site, predating the tomb, could have been a home. Evidence of a stone circle exists; archeologists believe that eventually some of the standing stones were repurposed to build the tomb. The large corner stones inside are thought to have been those very standing stones.

Inside Maeshowe we see how the tomb was used. Three of its walls each contain an inset chamber where bones were deposited. Maeshowe was breached before modern times; thus, no bones were ever found here. Other smaller chambered cairns in Orkney (there are many) show that bones of ancestors were mixed together in these chambers. Whole skeletons were not deposited, just assorted skulls and other bones. Then from time to time the bones were rearranged. So instead of being used as a burial place of eternal rest (as we might think of it), Maeshowe and smaller tombs are thought to be active places of ancestor veneration. This suggests that Maeshowe played a role in binding the community together and extending the bonds of kinship beyond the immediate family. The scale of construction itself suggests that many kinship groups came come together to build Maeshowe. Worship of shared ancestors thus expands the size of community and the scale of building projects that can be undertaken.

One particular aspect of Maeshowe's placement garners attention from visitors today. At the winter solstice, light from the setting sun shines down the low-slung entrance and onto the opposing wall. (This light shaft actually appears for several days on either side of the solstice, giving more visitors a chance to see it.) What the builders meant by this alignment is up for much delicious speculation; however, one thing is not in doubt. These were skilled builders with great knowledge at the top of their form. The shaft of light filling the tomb on the shortest day of the year was no accident.

Here our supposed ceremonial journey from Skara Brae ends. Travelers could walk from the coast to the Ring of Brodgar in a couple of hours, continue on through the "temple" site at the Ness of Brodgar, then past the Watchstone (and its twin) to the Stones of Stenness (and nearby Barnhouse) and on a half mile to Maeshowe, where ancestral bones were housed.

Looking at the area through the chronology of building reveals more. First came Stenness and Barnhouse, in use by 3200 BC. (Skara Brae was first occupied about the same time.) Some of the earliest structures at Ness of Brodgar were in use by that time, too, but it was 300 years after when huge Structure 10 was begun in about 2900 BC. Two hundred years later (2700 BC) Maeshowe is built (probably on an already existing sacred site.) And 200 after that (2500 BC) the community starts building the Ring of Brodgar. That's right. The community had been actively using this place for 700 years before the Ring of Brodgar was begun -- about the same time Stonehenge was going up.

Generation after generation, century after century, went by without anyone ever conceiving of or planning what we now see all at once and all together, a ceremonial complex that we think of as "completed." It's not as if there was a master plan that took centuries to build. Each generation built what suited them at the time.

Then about 2200 BC, with the destruction of Structure 10 at the Ness of Brodgar, the great fever of Neolithic building seems to have broken. No more large buildings were fashioned. No more stone circles were erected. Times had changed.

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Links of Noltland

Such build as we have seen at the Heart of Neolithic Orkney was not unique. Thousands of people lived in these islands at the time (perhaps nearly as many as live there today.) They were all busy builders. Much remains today.

Coastal erosion (like that which exposed Skara Brae in 1850) threatened a Neolithic village at the Links of Noltland on the island of Westray. Winds blowing in off the sea, whipping between the dunes were stripping off layers of sand that protected a Stone Age farmhouse. This forced Historic Scotland to excavate the site (already known and cataloged) before further damage could obliterate valuable knowledge.

Similar in construction to Skara Brae, the Noltland houses are believed to have been in use during the same era. In a clue about shared beliefs, cattle skulls were found around the foundation. Horns were interlocked and pointing down, an echo of customs at the Ness of Brodgar.

Another humanizing artifact was found here: a small clay figure, dubbed the Westray Venus. One can easily imagine it as a child's cherished plaything. (Actual scientists try to refrain from such fanciful speculation, of course.)

Such sites around Orkney are not rare. The problem is that there are so many sites -- far more than can possibly be excavated or even preserved. Beach walkers constantly find stone walls and sometimes human bones sticking out of sandy cliffs along the shore. Farmers in their fields regularly find their tractor tire has fallen through the roof of a tomb. Archeologists are called; they come quickly (knowing the farmers need to keep working) and say, "Yep, that's a tomb." They do a quick assessment, mark the location, add it to their catalog of sites and let the farmer go about his business.

The standing joke in Orkney is "You can't stick a spade in the ground without hitting some archeology." Visitors suppose that a new discovery means immediate excavation. With so many possible sites to explore, archeologists have to make hard decisions. Digs are expensive. Thus, exploration is limited to sites most likely to fill gaps in knowledge. Some sites are protected and others that are not threatened are simply left undisturbed. They are known treasures for next-generation archeologists with better tools at their disposal.

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Knap of Howar

Four hundred years before Skara Brae a farm family was living here at the Knap of Howar on Papa Westray. Dated to 3600 BC this is the oldest known standing house in Northern Europe, built and being used a thousand years before the Pyramids of Giza.

Like other sites it was discovered because of coastal erosion. This reminds us that what we see today -- a house on the shore -- is not what its builders intended. Originally built amid farm fields, the shore, some distance off at the time, has now approached. This suggests another possibility: a number of Neolithic dwellings have already been washed into the surrounding North Sea. Some of these drowned villages are known; mostly they are now lost.

The Knap of Howar is a delightful place to visit. Papa Westray has only ninety people, and travel here involves a flight from Kirkwall or a ferry to Westray, then another ferry to Papa Westray. Few tourists get here. On the evening when I visited for these images we had it to ourselves. When the fast-approaching rain got to us we retreated inside the tunnel connecting the two houses, where we ate a picnic lunch.

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Tomb of the Eagles

In 1958 farmer Ronald Simison discovered a Neolithic tomb full of skulls and bones on his farm. It was an interesting day.

Simison hadn't meant to become an archeologist but that day led, step by step, to just that. As it happened he had noticed flagstones jutting out of a mound. Spade in hand he began digging and within 10 minutes had uncovered a wall. Almost immediately he uncovered a black and white mace head.

Digging further he found an entrance to something. When he peered inside holding his cigarette lighter he saw something astounding: 30 human skulls. He had discovered an intact Neolithic cairn.

Archeologists summoned to the scene confirmed the finding and then sealed up the tomb, promising it would be excavated. Simison waited anxiously. Twenty years passed, during which time farmer Simison urged the authorities to come back and investigate further, without result. In the meantime he had begun to study archeology himself, volunteering at digs. These turned out to be training exercises.

Eventually Simison gave up and through a loophole in laws of historic preservation the possibility opened up for him to do the excavation himself. So he did.

The tomb he discovered had been begun around 3000 BC and was in regular use for about a century. It had two chambers (like Maeshowe) but also stalls created by large flat stone slabs, making it a "hybrid" tomb. Inside Simison found bones, lots and lots of bones. He recovered more than 16,000 assorted bones from at least 342 people. He found skulls like the one he nicknamed "Jock" (seen here) lining the walls with big piles of bones beside each of them. The chamber at the end held dozens of additional skulls.

Perhaps the most intriguing were the remains of a white-tailed sea eagle, the inclusion of which suggested ritual deposition of sacred objects. Thus the site became know as the Tomb of the Eagles. Subsequent carbon dating showed that the eagle had died nearly a thousand years after the tomb went out of use. Instead of being totems of Neolithic clans, the eagle claws suggest that people living here centuries later still revered the tomb, perhaps leaving something like offerings inside.

Today you can tour the tomb, dragging yourself through the narrow, low entrance on a little trolley. I had the wonderful chance to be inside the tomb with Ronald Simison. Sadly, he is gone now. His story still makes me smile. Because of him school children visiting the farm museum still marvel to touch Jock, one of their ancestors from 5,000 years ago in Orkney.

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Cuween Tomb

Cuween Tomb is not large, but the craftsmanship of the stonework is stunning. Corbelled walls taper upwards gracefully, the work of skilled stone masons whose talents would be sought after even now, 5,000 years later.

Four chambers, one in each wall, held the skulls and bones of eight people when the tomb was excavated in 1901. Interestingly, 24 dog skulls also were found, once again suggesting totems. However, subsequent dating showed that the dog bones were deposited 500 years later.

Not surprisingly there was a Neolithic village nearby. Stonehill is down the hill from Cuween, overlooking the bay above the current day village of Finstown. Researchers believe that Stonehill is at least as old as the Knap of Howar and maybe older.

What emerges when you visit several of these Neolithic sites is their ubiquity in the landscape. Visit one tomb (Maeshowe, for example) and you may think it is unique – important because it is rare. Visit a lot of tombs and you soon understand that they were common. It is this richness of sites that makes Orkney such a treasure trove and valuable to archeologists trying to understand the daily life – and thinking – of these people.

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Unstan Tomb

Unstan sits on the shores of Loch Stenness, with the Ring of Brodgar visible across the water. Unstan's exterior mound looks like a smaller Maeshowe. Inside, stalls were made from familiar vertical slabs. There is also a chamber to the side like those in Cuween.

The roof is a modern concrete addition built to protect it. A contemporary skylight makes Unsten's interior bright and convenient for visitors -- not at all tomb-like.

When excavated, two crouching skeletons were found, not normal for Neolithic burials. Usually the bones of many individuals are jumbled together, with the suggestion that bones were brought in after the flesh had been removed (pleasant thought) and "arranged." Bones also were taken out, more bones brought in, and the whole assortment rearranged. Obviously this all meant something significant to the people doing it at the time. We are left to wonder.

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Midhowe Stalled Tomb

Midhowe is big. This stalled cairn on the island of Rousay is about 75 feet long. The raised flagstones create 12 stalls, each with a low bench where bodies were believed to have lain. The landowner (whisky baron Walter Grant) excavated the site in 1932. He found the bones of 25 individuals, both adults and children. He also found the bones of cattle and red deer -- no surprise given what we have seen in other excavations. Pottery was also found here.

Midhowe is a visitor's delight because it is protected by a large building that provides catwalks above the tomb and abundant skylights. (No crawling through a long, low tunnel into a dark chamber.) It is the largest of the many tombs along the south shore of Rousay overlooking Eynhallow Sound. Others include Blackhammer, Taversoe Tuick and Yarso.

Rousay is home to more than 100 archeological sites, only a fraction of which have been excavated. I once overheard a conversation between two "tomb baggers" (people who collect tomb encounters like birdwatchers collect birds). One said, "You should go over to Rousay. You can bag half a dozen tombs before noon."

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