INTRODUCTION In "Whatis an Orcadian?" GeorgeMackay Brown concludes bycalling him, A fine mixter-maxter! This is literally true,as Orkney, at the cross-roadsof the Atlantic, North Britainand the North Sea, has beenon the seafaring map eversince people started to go tosea in boats. Many visitorshave come and gone over themillennia, some staying to set-tle, others leaving only theirgenes. The regular input ofnew blood and ideas hasensured that the Orcadiansare the versatile and welcom-ing people of today.

After the end of the last IceAge, about 13,000 years ago,Mesolithic nomadic huntersarrived in Scotland. By4000BC, Neolithic farmerswere well settled in Orkney.For over 1,500 years their cul-ture flourished, leaving the vil-lages, chambered cairns, stonecircles and artefacts which wecan see today. They are amongthe most spectacularNeolithic monuments inEurope.

The Bronze Age succeededthe Neolithic. From this peri-od burnt mounds, middens,cist and barrow graves as wellas ruins of small housesremain. This epoch wasmarked by a deterioration inclimate and changes in societyas well as the appearance ofbronze tools and weapons.

About 700BC larger roundhouses started to appear andlater the spectacular brochs,some with large settlementsaround them, were developed.The introduction of iron fortools and weapons would havebeen a revolution in itself.The Roman invasion ofBritain in AD43 rippled as faras Orkney. The islands werestarting to experience moreoutside influence, Pictish,Roman, Norse, Christian,Scots and English.

Beginning in the 8th centurythe Scandinavians began toappear, probably not in hugenumbers at first. Large scalemigration took place duringthe 9th century, followed by the"Golden Age of the Vikings".

The Norse domination lastedsix hundred years and thisinfluence is still strong in theisles today. Orkney was ofgreat strategic importanceduring Viking times, and theexploits of the Earls and theirsupporters are related colour-fully in the Orkneyinga Saga.

Later medieval times saw alarge influx of Lowland Scotsdue to the close proximity ofand then annexation byScotland. Orkney graduallybecame more of a backwaterand suffered as a result ofexploitation by Scottish Earlsas well by the MerchantLairds. Only in the 19th centu-ry were real farming improve-ments to arrive, when steampower finally made sea trans-port more regular.

During the later 19th and thenthe 20th century there havebeen the effects of the boom inHerring fishing, two WorldWars, further great strides inagriculture, North Sea Oiland the influx of large num-bers of mainly English immi-grants, with the result that thepopulation decline has nowreversed. The generation ofpower from the wind, wavesand tides is the latest in thisseries of developments.

Orkney now has a very diverseeconomy, mostly still based onits natural assets, but increas-ingly depending on the abilityof the Orcadians to adapt totoday’s changing world, just asthey have for at least the last6,000 years.

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Midsummer sunset at the Standing Stones of Stenness

INTRODUCTION - HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

70

BCc.10000 Ice retreats, sea level risingc.6000 Grassland, hazel-scrub, ferns

cover islands, first people arrive??3900 First known settlers

Vegetation becoming more open3800 Climate deteriorates3600 Knap of Howar oldest deposits3200 Skara Brae oldest deposits3000 Chambered Tombs being used

Ring of Brodgar, Standing Stonesc.2750 Maeshowebuilt2700 Start of Great Pyramid Age2600 Not many trees left2500 Skara Brae last occupiedc.2000 Sandfiold cist burial

Knowes o’Trotty1300 Peat bogs developing1159 Hekla erupts700 Iron Age round houses600 Oldest Broch depositsc.325 Pytheas circumnavigates Orkney214 Great Wall of China constructedc.400 Broch of Gurness in useAD33 Death of Christ43 Orkney said to submit to Claudius83 Agricola's fleet said to visit Orkneyc.500 Celtic monks arrive600 Norsemen start to appear in West632 Death of Muhammad793 Major Viking raids begin800s Norse migrationc.872 Harald Fairhair King of Norway

Sigurd of Moere first Earl955 Earl Sigurd the Stout baptised 1000 Leif Ericson discovers America1014 Thorfinn becomes Earlc.1030 Earl Rognvald Brusison

first Earl to live in Kirkwallc.1035 First St Olaf ’s Kirk built1046 Thorfinn sole Earl1065 Earl Thorfinn the Mighty dies1066 William - a French Viking takes

England1098 Magnus Barelegs expedition1117 Murder of Magnus1137 Foundation of St Magnus Cathedral1151 Magnus relics transferred to Cathedral

Earl Rognvald goes to Holy Land1152 Maeshowe runes1171 Sweyn Asleifsonkilled at Dublin1188 Bjarni Kolbeinson bishop1194 Battle of Florvag1231 Last Norse Earl dies

( John Harraldson)1263 Battle of Largs, King Haakon dies1266 Treaty of Perth1290 Margaret, Maid of Norway, dies1300 Dutch already fishingHerring1379 Earl Henry Sinclair I1380 Kirkwall Castle rebuilt

1398 Henry Sinclair visits America??1468 Impignoration to Scotland1471 Act of Annexation to Scotland1486 Kirkwall made a Royal Burgh

Cathedral to Kirkwall Corporation1492 Columbus reaches America1513 Henry Sinclair II killed at Flodden1528 Battle of Summerdale1540 King James V visits Orkney1541 Bishop Reid extends Bishop's Palace1560 Noltland Castle started 1567 Norse laws ratified by Scots1574 Earl's Palace, Birsay, built1581 Robert Stewartmade Earl 1588 Spanish survivors settle in Westray1590 First inn at Stromness1600s StronsayHerring fishery

becoming important1607 Earl's Palace finished, Kirkwall1614 Kirkwall Castle besieged1615 Patrick & Robert Stewartexecuted,

Castle demolished, Cathedral saved 1633 Carrick House built1666 Great Fire of London;

Newton realises gravity of situation1679 Wreck of the Crown, Deerness1700 Hudson's Bay Company starts

to recruit Orkneymen1705 Earl's Palace ruinous1721 Kelp-making introduced to isles1725 Pirate Gowcaptured at Calf Sound1730 Archie Angel survives shipwreck1743 Stromness becomes free

of Kirkwall taxes1763 Washington Irving's father

arrives New York1770 Grass, clover and turnip seeds

introduced, farming reforms1776 American Declaration of

Independence1789 First lighthouse lit on North

Ronaldsay1794 Pentland Skerries lighthouses1798 Highland Parkdistillery establishedc.1800 Ba’ game takes present form1809 First Kirkwall pier built1813 Martello Towers started

Last Great Auk killed on Papay1814 Stone of Odindestroyed1830 Collapse of Kelp Boom1832 North Ronaldsay dyke built

First steamship visits Kirkwall1833 PSVelocity starts regular

service to Kirkwall1838 Kirkwall Gas Company formed1847 Balfour Castle built1850 Skara Brae revealed after storm1855 Steamer Stromness to Scrabster1857 Orkney Roads act1858 Bridge at Ayre Mills closes

off Oyce, Skaill hoard found1859 First Orcadia steamship for

North Isles1862 Maeshowe cleared out1865 Junction Road, Kirkwall, built

First steamship to North Isles1867 First Stromness lifeboat Saltaire1870 J&W Tait founded1874 First Longhope lifeboat1879 Kirkwall waterworks installed1887 Stromness Herring fishery starts1890 Mermaid at Newark, Deerness1892 SS StOla I starts her long service1908 Stromness herring boomover1913 Peak of StronsayHerring boom1914 Electric Theatreopens1915 First Great Skuas breed1916 HMS Hampshire sunk 1917 HMS Vanguardblows up1919 German Fleet scuttles itself1920 N Zealand Wild White Clover 1937 End of Stronsayherring boom1939 World War II,

sinking of "HMS Royal Oak"1940 Work starts on Churchill Barriers1943 Italian Chapel started1947 Albert Kinema burns down1951 MV St Ola II commissioned

Costa Head windmill1955 Phoenix Cinema opens1957 LynessBase closes down1959 Russia launches first satellite1967 Loganair starts inter-island service1969 First landing on the Moon

Longhope Lifeboat disaster1972 Kirkwall lifeboat established1973 MV St Ola III start of ro-ro 1974 Orkney Islands Council formed1977 FlottaOilTerminal starts up1978 Orkney Norway Friendship Assoc1983 Wind power starts Burgar Hill1987 St Sunnivastarts link to Shetland

850th anniv of St Magnus Cathedral1991 1st edition of this guide published

Scar boat burial revealed by stormsRo-ro services to North Isles

1992 St Ola IV enters serviceOrkney Ferries fully ro-ro to Isles

1995 50th anniversary of Barriers 1997 First Atlantic oil reaches Flotta1999 Pickaquoy Centre opens2001 Pentland Ferries established2002 NorthLink takes over

New pier at Hatston2003 EMEC established2004 Stromness & Kirkwall marinas

ILS at Kirkwall AirportNew Kirkwall LibraryNess of Brodgar first trenches

2005 3rd edition of Orkney Guide Book2009 MV Pentalinaenters service

Westray Wife found at Noltland2011 4th edition of Orkney Guide Book2012 New Kirkwall Grammar School

ORCADIAN CHRONOLOGY

belongings and to go fishing indeep water. Most importantlyall the materials needed fortheir construction had to beeasily obtained locally.

Microliths Most evidencefrom Orkney of theseMesolithic people is in theform of small stone objectsthat have been found, particu-larly on ploughed fields.These are nearly allmicroliths, which are smallbut carefully made flint tools.Many would have beenmounted on wood with resinto make knives, scrapers,arrowheads, harpoons andother useful things.

Mesolithic worked stone arte-facts have been found in sever-al locations in Orkney, but sofar no settlement site has beenexcavated. The microliths sofar found include styles similarto Scandinavian and Scottishfinds. Much further investiga-tion is needed to throw lighton the situation, and it haseven been suggested that per-haps our links withScandinavia may be olderthan we have so far thought!

Possible Mesolithic tools andevidence of earlier occupationwere found at the lowest levelsat several Neolithic sites. Itseems that human settlementin Orkney may extend backfurther than it was thought.For example a burnt Hazelnutshell was found nearMinehowe in Tankerness in2007, which dates fromaround 6700BC.

Recently an excavation onStronsay revealed over 1,000worked pieces of flint. Itseems to date from around7000BC and may be a season-al basecamp. This site wasrevealed by field walking,when a scatter of flints wasdiscovered on a ploughedfield.

Further such sites may well befound in future. These may becoastal, underwater or under-neath later settlements. So farmost Orkney microliths havebeen found on farmland. Nohuman burials from theMesolithic Age have yet beenfound in Scotland, let aloneOrkney.

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HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

72

FIRST ARRIVALS At theend of the last glaciation, theice receded first from thenortheast and northwestcoasts of Scotland as well asthe islands. It was less thickhere and melting was aided bythe sea and weather. It is notclear where the first peoplearrived from, but they maywell have been sea-borne fromBritain, Ireland, Denmark oreven Norway.

Sea level was about 150mlower during the glaciationand rose rapidly as the icemelted. During Mesolithictimes Orkney was not joinedto Scotland, but virtually all ofthe islands were linked up. Assea level rose, the OuterNorth Isles became separatedand eventually the present sit-uation was achieved perhapsaround 8000BC.

The huge weight of the icedepressed the land, which roseafter the glaciers had melted, aprocess called isostaticrebound. Where the glacia-tion was thin, or non-existentthe effect was for the land tosink, a process which is stillhappening in Orkney today.The result is that here sealevel is several metres higherthan it was 10,000 years ago.

Seismic events may also havedestroyed evidence. Around6000BC there was a majorunderwater event off Norway,the Storegga Slides. Theseunleashed tsunamis whichmay have been up to 25m(80ft) high which would havebeen devastating to groups liv-ing on or near the shore.

The probability is thus thatmany early coastal sites havebeen lost to the sea. Recentlyunderwater surveys have beenstarted to try to discover anysuch evidence. Shallow, shel-tered bays such as the Bay ofFirth and lochs such as theLoch of Stenness are primecandidates.

There are many early sites onthe Scottish coast, especiallyon the west side and on theInner Hebrides. The oldest sofar found is from about6000BC at Cramond nearEdinburgh, while the nearestto Orkney are in Caithness.

Getting around was obviouslyimportant to these people too,and it is clear that they hadcapable boats with which tomove themselves and their

THE MESOLITHIC AGE - FIRST HUMAN ARRIVALS

Microliths of worked flint

Microliths of worked flint

Chart of Orkney showing 10m, 20m and 50m depth contours

The Bush, Big o’Waithe and the Loch of Stenness

UK Hydrographic Office

75

Roofs quite probably usedsome of the boat-building tra-dition with woven Willow orHazel supporting a coveringof leather and turf, parts of oldboats or even flagstone slates.Heather, reed or straw thatchmay also have been used.

Heather ropes were likelyused to secure the structures.The only evidence of flagstoneroofs so far is from the Nesso’Brodgar. A brief survey ofmore recent ruined housesshows that roof coverings andtimbers are the first to be sal-

vaged. Thus the archaeologi-cal record is perhaps biased infavour of what was not sal-vaged after abandonment.

The houses may well have hadwooden fittings and doors.Interior furniture only sur-

HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

NEOLITHIC TIMELINE

BCc.11000 Orkney separated from

Scotlandc.8000 First hunter-gatherers?3600 Knap of Howaroldest date

Unstan Warepottery3200 Stalled cairns appear

Isbister oldest dateMaeshowe tombs appearSkara Brae oldest date

3100 Knap of Howar latestQuanterness CairnGrooved Warepottery

3000 Standing StonesQuoyness CairnSkara Brae phase II

2800 MaeshowebuiltRing of Brodgar built

2600 Woodland virtually gone2500 Cairns latest date

Skara Brae latest

NEOLITHIC DOMESTICSITES TO VISIT

Stenness BarnhouseSandwick Skara BraeRousay Rinyo Westray Noltland linksPapay Knap of HowarSanday Pool

Skara Brae hut 1 showing hearth, dresser, beds and stone furniture

Expertly built interior doorway at the Knap of Howar

Knap of Howar House at Rinyo, Rousay House at Skara Brae

RCAHMS

RCAHMS

RCAHMS

NEOLITHIC AGE Thestrong similarities betweentombs and various artefacts inthe North of Scotland andOrkney suggests that farmingarrived via Caithness. Therewere cultural links with theHighlands and Islands,Ireland and the south ofEngland during the NeolithicAge. Farming was well estab-lished in Orkney at least 6,000years ago.

Houses One of the oldeststanding houses in WesternEurope, the Knap of Howar, ison the island of Papay and

dates from about 3600BC.The buildings at Skara Brae inSandwick, Rinyo on Rousay,Noltland on Westray, Pool onSanday as well as Barnhouseand Ness of Brodgar inStenness all date from slightlylater, about 3100BC. Theseare established settlements,built by accomplished stone-masons and reflect the work ofa settled people, rather thannew arrivals.

The houses were quite sophis-ticated, being built with dou-ble-skinned drystone walls.Midden material was often

packed between these wallsand surrounded them on theoutside. No other similarstone houses remain inBritain, or indeed Europe, andtheir origin is thus obscure.However, the buildings at theKnap of Howar have twointeresting features.

There is a strong resemblancein shape and internal featureswith some of the early cham-bered cairns, and the outline isdistinctly boat-shaped. Thelater Neolithic houses such asat Skara Brae are much squar-er, with built-in bed spaces,and resemble the laterMaeshowe-type tombs.Whereas elsewhere in Britainplentiful timber would havebeen available for construc-tion, its relative lack in Orkneywas made up for by the excel-lent building stone.

Since driftwood from NorthAmerica was very likely avail-able in quantity, they wouldhave had wooden fittings,while whalebone may alsohave been used for rafters.

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NEOLITHIC AGE - THE FIRST SETTLERS

The Knap of Howar is the oldest stone-built house in Europe

The houses at Skara Brae are joined by a central passage

struct and maintain as well asbeing light to haul out.

Clothing The old idea of theSkara Brae people was thatthey dressed in undressedleather skins but this is highlyunlikely. Hunter gathererswould have used light, protec-tive and hard wearing materi-als to make their clothes. TheNeolithic people had a widerange of options besides ani-mal skins. These includewoven vegetable fibres asalready mentioned, felted orwoven wool as well as wovengrass or straw. Bone pinswould have been used in placeof clasps.

Food & Drink Remains ofpots varied from tiny to over60cm in diameter. Two differ-ent styles of pottery artefactshave been found in theseNeolithic sites. Round flag-stone pot lids are common.Saddle querns were in wide-spread use to grind the Wheatand Barley, though probablythe latter was mostly eatenafter malting which makes thegrain much more digestible, aswell as sweet to the taste.Large quantities of malt wasalso used to make ale, which

was preserved and flavouredwith Meadowsweet, a verycommon Orkney wild flower.

There was plenty of milk, fish,sea birds as well as domesticbeef and lamb. Many ediblewild plants which are mostlyignored today would havebeen gathered to be used med-

icinally, as flavouring or as veg-etables. Sea Plantain,Silverweed, Marsh Marigold,Scurvygrass, Sorrel, LymeGrass and Bullrush are all edi-ble and locally common.Poisonous plants such asHenbane, which occurs inOrkney, may have been usedas hallucinogen.

77

vives as stone beds, dressers,cupboards, stone-lined tanksand hearths. Wood, leather,textiles and bone would allhave made the houses com-fortable. The recent finding ofpainting at the Ness o’Brodgarsuggests that colour may havebeen a feature.

Fuel could have been drieddung, seaweed, turf, driftwoodor whalebone, but not muchpeat as this only started todevelop much later. Thehouses had good, lined,drains. At Skara Brae thehouses are equipped with cellswhich were perhaps toilets,store rooms or pantries. In all

cases the quality of the stonework is very impressive. It iseasy to imagine the domesticlife of the inhabitants.

These people had a good andstable standard of living, withtime and energy to build elab-orate monuments likeMaeshowe, the Ring ofBrodgar and the impressivebuildings on the nearby Ness.Nothing is known of theirlanguage or culture, exceptthat which can be gleanedfrom their buildings, artefactsand the landscape. Barley andsome Wheat were grown,while cattle and sheep plussome pigs and goats were

kept. Seabirds and fish wereimportant in their diet anddeer were hunted.

Boats To reach Orkney andthe other Scottish islandsgood boats, seamanship and aworking knowledge of thedangerous waters wasrequired. These vessels had tocarry substantial numbers ofpeople, animals, seedcorn,tools and other goods. Theyjourneyed far down the coastsof Britain, and had done sosince the end of the Ice Age.

Offshore fishing for large Codand Ling was practised.Excellent hooks have beenfound in middens, fashionedfrom heated cartilage whichare extremely strong, yet flexi-ble. None of this was possiblewithout a good knowledge ofthe tides, skerries and weatherpatterns in these waters.

Their boats were probablybuilt with a stout woodenframe, most likely with Oaktimbers and a framework ofWillow or Hazel. Althoughleather, perhaps tanned withOak bark could have beenused as a skin, this would havebeen heavy and easily dam-aged when wet. Much morelikely is a woven fabric cover-ing made from Flax or Nettlefibres.

Both are very resistant to rot-ting, immensely strong andeasily grown in quantity.Finally the skin would havebeen tarred with copiousamounts of pitch. Such boatswould have been easy to con-

76

Excavation at the Links o’Noltland

The large house at Barnhouse is 7m by 7m internally

High quality masonry work at the Ness o’Brodgar

Rectangular side cell in one of the buildings at the Ness o’Brodgar

HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGYTHE FIRST SETTLERS

Bed and cupboards in hut 1 at Skara Brae

seaweed on the land, especial-ly given the evident impor-tance of the midding to them.

The vegetation changes start-ed about 3800BC continuedfor some time and by 2600BCthere were few trees left.Recent tree-ring studies of oldIrish Oaks suggest that therewas a sudden deterioration ofclimate about 2350BC, whichis about the time of the latestNeolithic dates. One theory isthat a large comet or asteroidstruck Earth at this time, caus-ing a nine-year winter.

By 1300BC extensive peatbogs were developing, makingmuch marginal land unwork-able, and overwhelmingremaining woodland. By thistime the landscape would havebeen very similar to that of theearly 20th century.

Chambered Cairns are tombswhich are characteristic ofNeolithic times. They arestone-built and typically havea central chamber with anentry passage and sometimesone or more cells off the mainchamber.

Orkney has a large number ofthese houses for the dead, many

of which are well preserved,and well-built. These tombswere built by the Neolithicfarmers, the oldest date inOrkney being from about3200BC, and many continuedin use for up to 800 yearsbefore final sealing.

Although there is a range ofsizes and design, there arebasically two types: whichhave been dubbed the Orkney-Cromarty Group (OC) and theMaeshowe Group (MH). Theformer type is related to simi-lar cairns in Caithness, while

79

BURIAL OF THE DEADwas clearly taken very seriously,and at least in some cases, excar-nation was practised. Bodieswere left in the open for sometime to allow the flesh to decay,and only some of the bones wereplaced in the tombs. Some oste-

ological studies suggest that thepeople had short and unhealthylives, but there is no evidencethat this was universal.

The Neolithic people were ableto construct these elaboratemonuments for their dead as

well as impressive stone circlesand very large buildings such asat the Ness of Brodgar. Thissuggests that their society wasprosperous and well-organised.

There are similarities betweenpottery and other artefactsfound in Portugal, southernEngland, Ireland and Orkney,suggesting that there were con-tacts with people in these areas.Little is known about the boatsof the time, but vessels able totransport people and their ani-mals across the Pentland Firthor to fish offshore would havebeen more than adequate toundertake longer journeys aswell.

Climate and climatic changemay well have had a lot to dowith early settlement.Analysis of pollen shows thatby about 5900BC the landwas covered with grassland,birch-hazel scrub and ferns.After the arrival of man inabout 4000BC this wasreplaced by more open vegeta-tion , probably due to theirgrazing animals and clearingfor cultivation. While there isno direct evidence of manur-ing, it is hard to believe thatthese people did not notice thebeneficial effects of dung and

78

HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

Midhowe on Rousay is very largeDecorative stone-work resembling Unstan Ware pottery

Upper floor of Taversoe Tuick

The Tomb of the Eagles at Isbister is also stalled, but has three side cells

CHAMBERED CAIRNS

Unstan is a typical stalled cairn with one side cell

Unstan Ware pots - largest two from Unstan, small bowl from Taversoe Tuick

Knowe of Yarso on Rousay is a typical small stalled cairn

NMS

in the Westray HeritageCentre. It has spiral markingsvery like the one found atChurch on Eday, now inNMS. Similar designs atNewgrange in Ireland andelsewhere suggest culturalconnections.

Osteology The picturegained from studies of bonesrecovered at Quanterness andIsbister is of a hard life. Fewpeople lived longer than 30years, and most died before25. Arthritis was common inadults, while mortality inchildhood was high. Usage ofthe tombs lasted for several

centuries. In the two recentexcavations partial remains oflarge numbers of individualswere buried, with up to 400 at

81

the latter type is unique toOrkney. In many ways thesetombs are similar to the con-temporary houses at SkaraBrae and Knap of Howar.

The OC type, of which thereare about 60 in Orkney, ischaracterised by having

upright stalls set into the sidewalls, shelves at one or bothends as well as sometimesalong the sides and roundedcorbelling for the roofs. Low-roofed cells occasionally leadoff the main chamber. Thepottery type found in thesecairns was Unstan Ware.

These are wide, round bot-tomed pots, which may ormay not be decorated, and arealso associated with the Knapof Howar in Papay, as well asStonehall in Firth.

The MH type have rectangu-lar chambers with high cor-belled roofs, and cells whichmay also have high roofs, butthey lack the upright stalls ofthe OC type. They also tendto be built of larger stones,often very massive and nor-mally very well cut and fittedtogether. There are only 12examples of these uniquestructures. Where potterywas present it was alwaysGrooved Ware, which are flat-bottomed pots, and quite dis-tinct from the Unstan type.This association is alsounique.

Unfortunately most sites werecleared out in the past withoutthe benefit of modern tech-niques. However, severalcairns were excavated recentlyand produced much data. TheMaeshowe-type cairns atQuanterness (St Ola) andHowe (Stromness) and theOrkney-Cromarty type cairnat Isbister (South Ronaldsay)yielded large quantities ofhuman and animal bones,artefacts and other materialfrom which much has beendeduced about the lives of thepeople buried there.

At Pierowall on Westray, aprobable Maeshowe-typecairn was discovered duringquarrying. This yielded anintricately carved stone, now

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HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

The reconstructed exterior of Quoyness on Sanday showing entrance passage

Exterior of Wideford Hill cairn looking towards Finstown and Cuween cairn

The interior of Maeshowe is monumental and incorporates standing stones

CHAMBERED CAIRNSTO VISIT

This is only a selection of themost accessible and best-pre-served cairns. Others are men-tioned in the sections for eachparish or island.

Bookan type

Sandwick BookanRousay Taversoe TuickEday Huntersquoy

Orkney-Cromarty type

St Ola Head of WorkStenness UnstanRousay Blackhammar

Taversoe TuickMidhoweKnowe of YarsoBigland Long

Westray CottEday BraesideStronsay KelsburghS Ronaldsay IsbisterHoy Dwarfie Stone

Maeshowe-type

St Ola Wideford HillStenness MaeshoweFirth Cuween HillEgilsay OnziebustPapay Holm Long CairnSanday Mount Maesry

Quoyness Eday Vinquoy Hill

CHAMBERED CAIRNS

Side cell at Wideford Hill cairn

Cuween cairn near Finstown is built with extreme care

open question. It is interest-ing to note that nicknames forpeople from particular parish-es and islands are still in com-mon use. Some of these maybe very ancient.

That the Neolithic peoplewent to such lengths in hous-ing their dead, in contrast tolater times, suggests thatancestors were very importantto them. While much hasbeen discovered about thematerial aspects of these peo-ple’s lives, little has beenrevealed about their ritualsand social organisation. Thevery large effort implied in theconstruction of these monu-ments suggests that the socie-ty was well organised and hadresources beyond mere subsis-tence farming.

The diagrams on this pageshow the development pro-gression of chambered cairns.Starting with the apparentlysimple, and early, Bookantype, through the variousincreasingly elaborate stalledcairns to the Maeshowe type.The last type is unique toOrkney and culminated in theeponymous impressive struc-ture.

83

each of Isbister andQuanterness.

Some cairns, such asMaeshowe, contained nobones on excavation. Mostearlier excavations failed toyield the detail of the recent

work. The lack of bones andother artefacts in manyinstances may simply meanthat the cairns were clearedout at some unknown time inthe past.In some cairns there appearsto have been an association

with animals, Sea Eagles atIsbister, dogs at Burray andCuween and sheep, cattle ordeer at others. Whetherthese, together with the manypot sherds also found, are theremains of funeral feasts orofferings to the dead is an

82

Wideford Hill, St Ola

Holm of Papay South

Vinquoy, Eday

HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

Maeshowe-type cairns have longentrance passages, no internal divi-sions and several side cells leadingoff a large and high corbelled cham-ber. The chambers are often alsocorbelled and can number fromthree to fourteen. Pottery wherepresent was always Grooved Ware

RCAHMS

RCAHMS

RCAHMS

RCAHMS

Blackhammar, Rousay

Unstan, Stenness

Midhowe, Rousay

Bookan, Sandwick

Bigland Round, Rousay

Huntersquoy Upper level, Eday

Yarso, Rousay

CHAMBERED CAIRNS - TYPES & DEVELOPMENT

Orkney-Cromarty type cairnsare characterised by upright flag-stones set like stalls in a byre andend compartments made fromlarge flagstones. A few have one ormore side cells. Pottery, if present,was always Unstan Ware.

Bookan-type cairns are charac-terised by having internal divi-sions made of upright flagstones.Pottery if present was UnstanWare. This type is the leastcommon to have survived intact.

RCAHMS

RCAHMS

RCAHMS

RCAHMS

RCAHMS

Maeshowe, Stenness

RCAHMS

RCAHMS

Skull from the Tomb of the Eagles

and surrounded by a bowl ofhills. Although there may beslightly more farming activitynow than in Neolithic times,these are timeless places.

Traditionally it has beenassumed that an ancient quar-ry near Vestrafiold inSandwick (HY239218) is thesource of stone for theStanding Stones, Brodgar andMaeshowe. A number of largestone slabs still lie where theywere they were quarried, anumber even still resting flaton small stones awaitingtransport. The largest is over5.5m long.

Recent geological examina-tions at Brodgar suggest thatthis is true for some, but per-haps not all of the stones. Ithas been suggested that someof the monoliths may haveoriginated elsewhere in theWest Mainland, perhaps froma number of different quar-ries.. They were could havebeen delivered from differentparishes as part of a grandcommunity enterprise.

Regardless of the reasons forand the logistics of their con-struction, the three hengesrepresent a considerabledesign challenge for a timewhen it is claimed that therewas no form of writing ornotation. The circles are nearperfect, the ditches symmetri-cally cut and the standingstones are accurately set.

Whatever the source of themegaliths, they had to fit anoverall concept. Powerful

forces in Neolithic societydrove the building of stonecircles all over Britain andNorthern Europe. TheOrkney henges seem to datefrom the late 3rd millenniumBC and are thus some of theoldest in UK.

What archaeologists like tocall rituals probably didinvolve the sun and moon,perhaps to decide on specificdates for festivals. The mainactivities were probably fertili-

ty rites including dancing,music, song, drinking, use ofdrugs and a good deal of sexu-al activity.

These people were establishedfarmers, accomplished fisher-men and had at least occasion-al connections with distantcommunities. But they alsodepended on the return of thesun, the fertility of the soil, thefecundity of their animals andcrops and their own successfulreproduction.

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STONE CIRCLES &HENGES TO VISIT

Stenness Standing StonesSandwick Ring of Brodgar

Bookan

STANDING STONESTO VISIT

Stenness WatchstoneBarnhouseOdin Stone (site of)Comet Stone

Harray Hinatuin StoneBirsay QuoybuneStromness DeepdaleRousay YetnasteenN Ronaldsay HollandEday Setter StoneShapinsay Mor Stein

HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

Snowy midwinter sunset at the Standing Stones of Stenness

The Barnhouse Stone

STANDING STONESApart from houses and cham-bered cairns, the Neolithicpeople also erected standingstones, stone circles andhenges. These are some ofthe most impressive monu-ments from this time, especial-ly the collection of megalithsbetween the Stenness andHarray Lochs.

The henges include the Ringof Brodgar, the StandingStones of Stenness andBookan. Isolated standing

stones include the Watchstoneand those at Barnhouse,Deepdale and Hinatuin. Theimpressive rock cut ditches atthe three henges represent amassive construction project.Selection, quarrying, trans-port and erection of themonoliths seems like veryhard work in the absence ofmetal and power tools

Many visitors, illustrious ornot, have proposed reasons forthe erection of these monu-ments. They have usually sug-

gested rituals which is archae-ological shorthand for don’tknow and often divined allsorts of other things. What isclear is that the Neolithic peo-ple were very much in tunewith their environment whichobviously included the cyclesof the Sun and the Moon.

The sites selected for thesemonuments are not acciden-tal. They are situated in theheart of the West Mainlandamid a low lying landscape offarmland, moorland and water

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STONE CIRCLES AND STANDING STONES

The Ring of Brodgar originally comprised 60 stones, of which 27 remain intact

Midwinter sunset at the Watchstone Sunset from Bookan Ring in early November

some to be the precursor ofthe so-called Celtic Calendar.Most likely many of the align-ments which are so obvious tothe observer today are intend-ed, not with a high degree ofgeometrical accuracy.

Moon The Moon was alsoclearly important in theNeolithic, as now. Predictingthe tides would have beenessential, but these people alsoknew about the more longterm movements of the Moon,which are generally not under-stood by today’s urbandwellers.

Apart from its monthly cycle,the Moon has a complexbehaviour due to the nature ofits orbit around the Earth andgravitational interactionsbetween it, the Earth and theSun. As a result there are aseries of cyclical effects, themain one being the MajorLunar Standstills, which occurevery 18.6 years.

At these times, at Orkney’slatitude of o, the Moon onlyrises a few degrees into the sky,and skims the horizon. Seenfrom the Ring of Brodgar and

from the Standing Stones itonly just clears the OrphirHills before setting into Hoy.This very dramatic eventwould doubtless have formedpart of the Neolithic calendar

Megalithic Geometry Surveysof many of the 1,300 or sostone circles and settings inBritain have revealed thatmost were accurately laid outas circles, ellipses or flattenedellipses. Ropes and pegswould have been sufficient inmany cases, but some form ofmeasurement essential to

mark out where stones were tobe erected and ditches to bedug.

Alexander Thom and othershave postulated MegalithicFeet, Yards, Rods and so onwhich in many cases seem tofit the actual measurementson the ground. Knowledge oftriangles, especially the 3,4,5would have been very helpfulin laying out circles, cairns andhouses. It is hard to imaginehow a structure likeMaeshowe was not designedusing units and angles.

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ALIGNMENTS It is almostimpossible to visit many of theOrkney Neolithic sites aroundthe solstices without noticingobvious alignments to the ris-ing and setting sun. The bestknown event is the settingmidwinter sun illuminatingthe chamber of Maeshowe.However local people havelong said that the Watchstoneis the most significant obser-vation position.

Sun The winter solstice wasclearly an important event as itis marked from multipleplaces on several datesbetween early December andthe end of January. Thus theprecise date can be accuratelyknown despite many cloudydays. Of particular interestare the flashing events. The

sun disappears behind a hilland then momentarily reap-pears on the other side, as forexample in Stenness..The movements of the Sunare reflected in alignments atBookan, Brodgar, theStanding Stones, Barnhouseand quite possibly also at theNess of Brodgar. Things arecomplicated by the fact that anunknown number of standingstones have been destroyed ortoppled. In recent times somewere then been re-erected.

Nearly all chambered cairnshave a day when the rising orsetting sun will shine throughits passage. This may or maynot be of significance, butboth Wideford and Cuweenare illuminated at the equinox,while Tomb of the Eagles

bathes in the May Day sun-rise. The destroyed cairn atPierowall may well have has asouthwest orientation, with itsimpressive lintel stone facingthe sunset.

Solar Calendar Midwinterand midsummer are obviousset points in the calendar. Anumber of festivals seem to bevery ancient, including thosenow called St Brigit’s(Imbolc), May Day (Beltane),Lammas Lughnasa) andHalloween (Samain). Theywere all taken over by theChristians with a varyingdegree of success.

Detailed surveying of manyNeolithic monuments haveproduced conflicting evidencefor a calendar, thought by

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HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

The Moon low over the Orphir Hill from the Ring of Brodgar Midwinter Moonrise over Maeshowe

NEOLITHIC ALIGNMENTS AND CALENDARS

The setting sun reappearing on the north side of the Ward Hill of Hoy from the Watchstone on 12th December

Midwinter sunrise at Barnhouse, Stenness

SUNRISES AND SUNSETS

The most unequivocal dates for solar alignments are midsummer andmidwinter sunsets and sunrises. The main sites are all in Stenness andare defined by the surrounding arc of hills. Sunset over the Hoy Hillsfrom the Watchstone is the most accurate indicator for other days. Themidwinter sunset down the passage at Maeshowe gives precise days forthe solstice and the flashing days of 1 December and 29 January.

Midwinter sunrise North RonaldsayMidwinter sunset Maeshowe, Watchstone, Brodgar,

Standing Stones, BookanEarly Feb/ Nov sunset Maeshowe, WatchstoneEquinox March sunrise Cuween

sunset WatchstoneEquinox Sept sunrise Wideford Hill

sunset WatchstoneEarlyMay/ Aug sunrise Tomb of the Eagles

sunset BrodgarMidsummer sunrise Brodgar, Unstan, BookanMidsummer sunset Brodgar, Standing Stones, Barnhouse

Midwinter sunset at the Watchstone

Two further interestingobjects were found here. In2010 a second figurine wasfound, this time in clay andabout 34mm high, thoughwithout its head. A muchlarger decorated stone 45cmhigh was also found here in2008. It has incised chevronsand an S-shaped carving.

In nearby Pierowall a carvedstone was found during quar-rying work in 1981. It closelyresembles a similar stonefound on Eday. The carving isvery similar to those atNewgrange in Ireland and wasprobably part of the lintel overthe entrance of thisMaeshowe-type tomb. Thestructure was destroyed some-time before 2,000BC.

Tomb of the Eagles The firstfind at the chambered cairn atIsbister on South Ronaldsaywas a cache of carved stoneobjects, including a mace headan small axe and knives.Carved bone and shell jew-ellery was found as well as a jetbutton and ring. The highquality workmanship can beadmired at the site museum.

Knap of Howar The oldeststanding stonebuilt house inOrkney was the site of someinteresting finds, including afine carved stone axe bladeand a huge variety of bone andstone tools. Many of these arebeautifully made and are morethan merely utilitarian. Theconstruction of the buildingsis also very skilled.

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NEOLITHIC ART Untilrecently the subject ofNeolithic Art in Orkney wasnot taken very seriously.Certainly there were chevronand lozenge incisions at SkaraBrae and elsewhere. Cupmarks, eyebrow motifs andwhorls similar to those fromother areas were also found, aswere many exquisite carvedstone and bone objects.

The range of artifacts whichare found depends on theenvironment in which theyhave been since deposition.Apart from bone, very feworganic items have been dis-covered. This means thatalmost nothing is knownabout Neolithic wooden toolsand fittings, boats, textiles,clothing or furnishings.

There is no evidence thatthese people used any kind ofwriting or notation. Equallytheir language is unknown.There are clear similaritieswith designs used in Irelandand southern England on pot-tery and on carved stones.Objects made from stone andjet which originated hundredsof miles away confirm tradinglinks.

Skara Brae yielded a hugenumber of carved stoneobjects, jewellery made frombone and teeth, as well as sym-bols carved on stones. Manyartifacts were carved frombone, ivory and whale’s teeth.Perhaps the most impressiveare two whalebone pins whichare 25cm long.

Westray The Links ofNoltland is a large area ofsand dunes above Grobust onWestray is constantly chang-ing. recent excavations therehave revealed a Neolithic set-tlement. In 2009 the WestrayWife (or Orkney Venus) wasfound. This 3cm female fig-urine is by far the oldest carv-ing of a person so far found inScotland.

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HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

Incised stone from Skara Brae with chevrons and lozenges

Tomb of the Eagles stone knife

Incised stone from near hut 10, Skara BraeThe Westray Wife

NEOLITHIC ART, TOOLS & POTTERY

Pierowall chambered cairn lintel stone

Mace head from the Tomb of the Eagles Stone axe blade from the Knap of Howar

Incised stone from the Links of Noltland

Brae and the Knap of Howar.Necklaces, bracelets and finebone pins are most common.The latter were most likelyused to secure garments.Shells, whalebone, whales’teeth and Walrus ivory werealso used.

Haematite was found at SkaraBrae and other sites. Some ofthe lumps were polished, sug-gesting that they may havebeen used to polish leather.Small pots which containedred ochre which may havebeen for personal adornment.

At Ness of Brodgar stonespainted in red and yellow werefound in 2010, suggesting thatthe use of colour may havebeen far more widespreadthan previously known. Thisraises all sorts of questionsabout the appearance of build-ings In the Neolithic Age.

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Pottery As already men-tioned pottery was a majorfeature of the Neolithic Age inOrkney. It ranges from smallbowls and drinking cups tovery large containers capableof holding up to 100 litres. Inmany cases the pots are beau-tifully made.

Both Unstan Ware andGrooved Ware used decora-

tion similar to other forms ofNeolithic artwork. The for-mer tend to be finer, roundbottomed bowls and beakers,while the latter are more utili-tarian and usually are bucketshaped. The different stylesseem to be associated withparticular sites.

Grooved Ware pottery sherdsoften make up a large fraction

of the larger artifacts foundduring excavations. They fre-quently survive in remarkablygood condition. Doubtlessthere were fashions in potsand perhaps rivalry betweendifferent potters.

A probable pottery kiln wasdiscovered at the Knowes ofTrotty in 2006 but so far thisis the only Neolithic examplein Orkney. Recently, potterAndrew Appleby and archae-ologist Stephen Harrison haveconducted some experimentswith making and firingGrooved Ware type pottery.

Temperatures of over 1,000oCwere reached and a high yieldof very usable variety vesselsresulted. It seems thatOrkney clays need a high tem-perature to be properly fired.The kilns were built of turfand have used mixtures ofpeat, dung, wood and seaweedas fuel. When peat was usedthe kiln burnt for a long timebut reached over 1,100oC.

Adornment Large numbersof artifacts which can only beinterpreted as jewellery havebeen found, especially whenconditions have been good forsurvival of bone, as at Skara

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HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

Grooved Ware pottery from Links o’Noltland, Westray

Skara Brae necklace made with bone and teeth

NEOLITHIC ART, TOOLS & POTTERY

Bone tools from Skara Brae

Bone jewellery from Skara Brae

Carved stone objects from Skara Brae

Large whalebone pins found at Skara Brae

NMS

Grooved Ware pottery sherds in Orkney Museum Unstan Ware pottery from Isbister Tomb of the Eagles jewelllery

stone cist burial with cremat-ed bones, four gold discs and21 pieces of amber from anecklace.

The gold is Scottish in origin,but the amber is probablyfrom the Baltic, and may havebeen fashioned into a necklacein England as the beads close-ly resemble others found inWessex.The gold disks were likelyused as decorative button cov-ers, most likely on the dress ofan important woman.Excavations in 2002 provedthat the site is an extensivecemetery, with a Bronze Agebuilding, cremation fire sitesand pits and the remains of akerbed cairn.

During 2005 the largest

mound was excavated to reveala large and very well-built bur-ial cist. Fragments of gold andamber which were missed in1858 were also found as wellas cremated bone whichshould allow accurate datingof the cairn.

At Sandfiold near the Bay ofSkaill a large flagstone cist wasrecently excavated. Inside were

several burials, some cremated,others not, and a large urn, datingfrom about 2000BC. This uniquetomb is much larger than other cistgraves and the stones had beenvery carefully cut. It seems that it wasdesigned to be repeatedly openedand reused.

There are well over 200 bar-rows and cairns in Orkneydating from the Bronze Age.

In contrast to the spectacularmonuments of the Neolithic,the Bronze Age has not leftmany such remains to visit.Metalworking reached Britainabout 2700BC, but none ofthe few bronze artefacts foundin Orkney date to earlier than2000BC. Copper ore doesoccur locally there is no evi-dence that it was exploited atthis time.

The small number of artefactsfound have seemingly all beenimported. Beaker pottery, afiner and more decorated typecharacteristic of the periodelsewhere, is also rare inOrkney. This lack of artefactsmay suggest that Orkneybecame relatively isolatedfrom Scotland about thistime, perhaps due to climatechanges making life much

harder. However, intriguingfinds in several graves suggestthat this is not the whole pic-ture.

Burial Mounds It appearsthat there was a change fromcommunal burials in cham-bered cairns to individualinterments in stone-linedcists, often then topped with abarrow of earth or a cairn ofstones. There was also achange from inhumation buri-als to cremation.

The Knowes o’Trotty are agroup of mounds atHuntiscarth on the LydeRoad, Harray (HY343177),which form a large BronzeAge cemetery. There are tworows of eight or more moundseach. In 1858 excavation ofthe largest mound revealed a

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HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

At least eight Bronze Age tumuli surround the ring of Brodgar

The cist was used in the period 2750BC to 2500BC and later about 2000BC

Large pot with cremated remains Archaeologists reveal the Sandfiold cist for the first time in 4000 years

BRONZE AGE ORKNEY

Decorated gold disk found at the Knowes o'Trotty in 1858 - probably a decoration for a large button

Excavation at the Knowes o’Trotty

NMS

skinned walls but, like laterhouses, had radial walls inside.It had a central hearth andwell-made stone drains. Nextto it a smaller building had alarge stone tank. There aremany mounds on Sanday,some of which may be BronzeAge barrows.

Recent excavations at theLinks of Noltland on Westrayhave also exposed a BronzeAge house and outbuildings.These structures have beenexposed by erosion of sanddunes.

Dykes Also probably datingfrom this period are the manytreb dykes or gairsties whichseem to divide up the land onseveral islands, includingNorth Ronaldsay, Sanday andWestray. Although NorthHoy is short on archaeologicalsites there is a fascinating col-lection of walls and structuresunder the peat in theWhaness area below the WardHill. Such sub-peat struc-tures suggest that muchremains to be discovered.

During this period there is

evidence from pollen and iso-topic studies that the climatebecame cooler and wetter,making farming much harderin Orkney. The eruption ofHekla in Iceland in 1159BCmay have caused a suddenchange for the worse in theweather, and further encour-aged the development of peatin areas previously availablefor farming, causing crop fail-ure and a sudden decline inthe population.

In such circumstances a hotbath would have been mostwelcome! Burnt mounds arevery common in Orkney andmay well have been a fashionof the time.

In particular several largemounds which date from thistime in the Brodgar area sug-gest that the people had elabo-rate funerary rites, and per-haps continued to use theRing of Brodgar.

There are at least eight suchbarrows here, in some ofwhich cists with cremationburials were found. Recentgeophysical investigations inthis area have shown a seriesof structures, some of which

may date from the BronzeAge, including a likely figure-of-eight house.

Burnt Mounds Althoughonly a few Bronze Age houseshave so far been excavated inOrkney, there are a large num-ber of Burnt Mounds all overthe islands, always near a freshwater source. These resultedfrom the use of heated stonesto boil water, and first appearabout 1200BC.

The structure at Liddel inSouth Ronaldsay gives a clearpicture of the design of suchsites. With a lack of large potsor metal containers, stonetanks were filled with water,which was heated using stonesfrom the nearby hearth. Afteruse the charred and crackedstones were thrown onto a pile- the burnt mound.

The mounds are usually cres-cent-shaped and are probablythe accumulation of “pot-boil-ers” built up around houses.Some of these mounds arequite large and have substan-tial buildings next to them.These may have been used forspecial occasions rather thaneveryday things. Generally ithas been thought that the siteswere used for cooking of largejoints of meat for communalfeasting, but it is also arguedthat they may have beenBronze Age bathhouses orsaunas.

Houses The substantialhouse at Liddel has double-skinned walls and a flagstonefloor with a large hearth andhuge flagstone water trough.There are slabs set into thewalls which are too small forbeds, but just right for use asseats. Undecorated pots withflat bases were found as well asstone ploughshares and tracesof cereal pollen. It seems thissite was abandoned about1000BC.

Another Bronze Age housewas excavated at Tofts Nesson Sanday. This large round-house also had double-

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BRONZE AGE TIME-LINE

BCc2000 Bronze Age in Orkney

Sandfiold Cist reusedClimatic deteriorationBeakers start to appearPeat starting to developKnowes o’Trotty in use

c.1200 Burnt Mounds appear1159 Hekla erupts

Sharp change in climatec.1000 Liddle house abandoned

Tofts Ness house in use

BRONZE AGESITES TOVISIT

Stenness Tumuli at BrodgarPossible settlement

Harray Knowes of TrottyBirsay Kirbuster Hill

Ravie HillSandwick Sandfiold cistRousay Quandale burnt moundHolmof Faray HousesWestray Links of NoltlandPapay Backaskaill burnt moundN Ronaldsay Muckle GairstaySanday Elsness Barrows

Tofts Ness houseTreb Dykes

Eday Heritage walkWarness burnt Mound

Auskerry burnt mound & housesS Ronaldsay Liddle houseHoy Whaness enclosures

Liddel burnt mound, South Ronaldsay

Small burnt mound at Herston, South Ronaldsay

HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

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Typical burnt mound on the shore of the Loch of Stenness below Redland

Bronze Age house with associated burnt mound at Liddel, South Ronaldsay

BRONZE AGE ORKNEY

Brochs were developed in thelate Iron Age as the ultimateversion of the roundhouse.The two Stromness excava-tions clearly show how therewas a progressive evolution indesign until the final massiveround tower, with surround-ing settlement, was developed.These towers were up to 20min diameter, with walls up to5m thick at the base. If Mousain Shetland is typical, which itmay not be, they may havebeen up to 14m high, the wallsbeing hollow with an interiorstairway.

The single entrance is usuallyguarded by cells, and wouldno doubt have had a substan-tial door. There is evidence ofone or more floors in several,but whether these were gal-leries or not is not clear. Mostbrochs are situated in gooddefensive positions on thecoast, and in Orkney usuallyamid prime agricultural land.This may be coincidence, asnot only are there many inlandbrochs, but others probablyoccupied sites which are nowmodern farms.

That they were primarilydefensive structures seemsclear - the massive construc-tion, ditches and rampartswere not just for show.However the presence of con-temporary houses suggeststhat they were often the centreof a whole community. Incases where no domesticbuildings surrounded them, asat The Bu, they must havebeen very imposing farm-steads.

The radiocarbon dates fromBu of Cairston imply an earlydate of about 600BC, suggest-ing that roundhouses werealready being developing intoprotobrochs by this time. Onetheory is that brochs are a

local product, which devel-oped quickly from round-houses, in themselves perhapsthe true architectural innova-tion of the early Iron Age.

BROCHS (ON Borg, strong-hold) are a type of buildingunique to Scotland, especiallythe north, and of which thereare over 100 examples inOrkney. Most of the brochswhich have been excavatedwere cleared out in the 19th

century. There have beenrecent excavations of round-houses at Quanterness (StOla), Pierowall (Westray),Tofts Ness (Sanday) and the

Bu of Cairston (Stromness).major investigations and ofthe brochs at Howe(Stromness) and Old Scatness(Shetland), combined with areappraisal of sites such asGurness (Evie) and Midhowe(Rousay), have thrown muchnew light on the subject.

About 700BC a new type ofhouse appeared, typified bythose at Jarlshof and Old

Scatness in Shetland and inthe Western Isles, but alsonow shown to have been builtin Orkney. These were largeand well-built, with occupa-tion continuing for at least500 years. They represent asharp contrast to the preced-ing millennium, from whichdomestic building remains aresparse.

Unfortunately none of theseinteresting Orkney ruins isable to be viewed, as they wereall back-filled after excavation.It may be that the appearanceof the roundhouses reflectschanges elsewhere inScotland, which had reachedOrkney. In particular thedestruction excavation atHowe revealed much aboutthe development of theseinteresting structures.

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HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

Aerial view of Howe Broch during excavation with surrounding settlement

Neolithic chambered cairn with a very finely-built passage under Howe Broch

The souterrain under the Howe Broch

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BROCHS AND IRON AGE ORKNEY

Aerial view of the Broch of Gurness showing the surrounding settlement, banks and ditches

Excavations at the Bu of Cairston revealed a large roundhouse

Similarly the Howe excava-tion, during which the brochwas totally destroyed, revealeda whole unexpected sequenceof occupation from an earlyIron Age roundhouse, itselfbuilt on the remains of aNeolithic tomb, through tothe final broch at about200BC or earlier.

Work at Old Scatness sug-gests that the broch there maydate from 400BC, a much ear-lier date than previously envis-aged for such structures. Itappears that the brochs werein existence well before theRomans reached Scotland.

By AD100 the Bu round-house had fallen out of use,

perhaps after a disastrous fire,and the later houses were ofmuch poorer quality.Although the Greek explorer,Pytheas is said to have circum-navigated Orkney about325BC, no Mediterraneanartefacts have been foundfrom this early.

Roman objects were onlypresent from about the 1st cen-tury AD, suggesting that thestatement that Orkney wassubdued by Agricola in AD83may not be just legend. Thediscovery of fragments ofRoman amphorae at Gurnessand pottery at Midhowe couldstrengthen this view. Theseartefacts could just as easilyhave come to Orkney by way

of trade, perhaps after passingthrough several hands on theway.

The Broch of Gurness con-veys a strong sense ofgrandeur, with its still-impres-sive tower, ramparts andhouse ruins. The site is one ofthe most impressive of allbrochs. With possibly contin-uous occupation over nearly1,000 years, it has Iron Age,Pictish and early Norse con-nections.

Little is known of the peoplewho inhabited the brochs.They may have been descen-dants of the first settlers, whodeveloped the society them-selves, or they may have out-side (Celtic?) ideas or incom-ers. Their boats would cer-tainly have been very seawor-thy, and they made contactwith the Roman world accord-ing both to classical authorsand artefacts found at theBrochs of Gurness and Howe.

Earthhouses Another inter-esting development startingabout 600BC, is theEarthhouse, or souterrain.Typical examples are atRennibister (Firth) and Grain(Hatston). These under-ground structures are thoughtto have been used for storage,and probably formed cellars tolong-disappeared roundhous-es. There was a similar struc-ture under the broch at Howe.The superficial resemblance tochambered cairns is probablymore to do with commonmaterials than anything else.

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HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

IRON AGE TIMELINE

c.700 Iron Age beginsRoundhouses appearQuanterness roundhouseEarliest dates at Howe

c.600 Pierowall roundhouseEarth-houses appearBu roundhouse earliest

c.325 Pytheas' voyagec.300 Howe pre-brochc.200 Brochs fully developed

Howe, Gurness, Midhoweearly AD Roman artefacts in brochsc.100 Brochs in decline

BROCHS TO VISIT

These are a small selection of themany broch sites in Orkney. Othersare mentioned in the sections foreach parish or island.

St Ola Lingro (remains)Berstane

Firth FinstownIngashowe

Rendall TingwallEvie Gurness

BurgarBirsay OxtroSandwick Borwick

StackrueStromness BrecknessDeerness Dingieshowe

Eves HoweRousay MidhoweWestray Queenahowe

BurristaeN Ronaldsay BurrianStronsay Lamb Ness

BaywestShapinsay BurroughstoneBurray NorthfieldS Ronaldsay Howe of HoxaHoy Braebuster

QuoynessS Walls Hestigeo

OTHER IRON AGESITES TO VISIT

St Ola Grain Earth HouseHarray RusslandFirth RennibisterEarth HouseSandwick Brough of BiggingTankerness MinehoweWestray Knowe of SkeaEday Linkataing roundhouseSanday Tafts NessShapinsay BurroughstonS Ronaldsay Castle of Burwick

Grain Earth House, a souterrain at Rennibister, Firth

Headed pin from Howe Broch

Insect brooch from Howe Broch

Woven heather from Howe Broch

Tweezers from Howe Broch

Site plan of the Broch of Lingro, destroyed in the 1980s by a farmer

RCAHMS

RCAHMS

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BROCHS AND IRON AGE ORKNEY

Interior of Midhowe Broch, Rousay

Borwick Broch is north of Yesnaby

The Knowe of Skea is situat-ed on a small headland offBerstness, Westray and is indanger from coastal erosion.It contains a large roundbuilding with a rectangularinterior and very thick walls.There were stone box bedsand a central hearth but littlepottery or refuse, suggestingthat the place may have regu-larly been cleared out.

There are several associatedsmall buildings, in which wereburied over 100 individuals,including a large number ofinfants. Two of these struc-tures were metalworkingworkshops similar to the oneat Minehowe. A mould foundin one matches a pin foundwith one of the skeletons, sug-gesting that the metalworkingwas in some way related to useof the place as a cemetery.

There are may be a Neolithicchambered cairn under thelarge building, while BronzeAge burials were also present,suggesting that the site mayhave been used as a cemeteryfor a long time. The headlandoverlooks the Westray Firthwith its strong tides and good

fishing, while the associatedsettlement is thought to liebehind the nearby farm ofLangskaill. There is anotherprobable chambered cairn onthe top of nearby Berstness.

Iron Age burials have untilnow been almost unknown,

but work at these two sites hasalready shown that this maybe due to lack of discoveryrather than sites. Hitherto theperiod has been all aboutbrochs and roundhouses, butnow it may soon be possible toadd more details to these peo-ple.

Minehowe The mound nowknown as Minehowe was firstcleared out in 1946, but wasreopened in 1999. It is a well-like stone structure with 29steps, which was built into the

mound in Iron Age times.During the earlier excavationsstone objects and bones werefound, but they have not beenpreserved. Minehowe echoessimilar stairways and wells in

some of the brochs, as well assouterrains but its purposeremains obscure.

The mound is covered by adeep ditch, with stone revet-ting and an entrance causewayon the west side. Major exca-vation work over the last fewyears have revealed that thearea was important during thelate Iron Age as a metalwork-ing site. A furnace, kilns andcrucibles associated with cop-per or bronze working as wellas a steatite ingot mould havebeen found. The substantialfurnace is high up on themound perhaps to aiddraught.

There were two burials, one ofa young baby and another of awoman in her 20s. Thewoman was buried under thefloor of the "metalworkingworkshop" while the buildingwas still in use. The body wasburied on its back with a pieceof deer skull drilled with sixholes and bronze rings on thefeet. Iron Age burials are rarein Orkney, making this discov-ery particularly interesting.

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HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

Metalworking workshop at Minehowe

One of the many Iron Age burials at the Knowe of Skea, Westray

Knowe of Skea excavations, Westray

Minehowe Iron Age furnace

Sigurd Towrie

Sigurd Towrie

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IRON AGE ORKNEY - METALWORKING & DEATH

Corbelled roof of lower chamber

Minehowe interior looking up lowers stairs from bottom

Excavations in progress at Minehowe

In AD43 Orkney leaders sub-mitted to Claudius, perhaps atColchester, and reference ismade to Islands of the Picts .The Romans returned againin AD83 when Agricolaspecifically sent his fleetnorthwards after the Battle ofMons Graupius to subdueOrkney. The implication isthat it was a regionally impor-tant centre of power, as theRomans would be very unlike-ly to waste their resourcesunless some threat was posed.

It is interesting that thedecline of the brochs occurs atabout the same time. This ofcourse may all be Romanpropaganda. The Romanswanted everyone else tobelieve that they had con-quered everything. Withouthard evidence these Classicalreferences must be in doubt.

It is likely that the origins ofthe Picts in Orkney go at leastas far back as the early IronAge and perhaps further still,with continuity of settlementthe main theme. The seawould have been very impor-

tant both for food and rawmaterials, as well as for com-munications. No doubt therewere accomplished seamenand good boats. The incur-sions of the Romans at theheight of the development ofthe Brochs culture may wellhave stimulated a commonpurpose between the varioustribes, who then became whatthe Romans called the Picti,causing the tribal groupings ofthe 1st century to become thePicts of the 4th century.

Orkney has long been held tobe The Cradle of the Picts, andthere have been suggestionsthat Orkneymen wereinvolved in slave trading andhead hunting from earlytimes. However the mainPictish centres of power werein the Inverness area, wherethey had a large fort atBurghead, and in Angus. ThePicts in Orkney were probablydescendants of the earlierpopulation, enriched by immi-grant blood.

The Pictish Kingdom gradu-ally developed and became

more centralised, with a prob-able loss of power and prestigeon the part of the Orkneychiefs. By St Columba’s timethe northern Picts werebecoming Christian, butOrkney continued to be thesubject of attacks from bothScots and Picts, suggestingthat considerable local powerremained. By the mid 8th cen-tury the Picts and Scots had

THE PICTS Althoughoften called the Dark Ages,the first millennium AD wasin fact a time of great changeand development, with not

least the Roman invasion, theforceful spread of Christianity,the emergence of local, region-al, and finally national power.The Pictish influence was felt

in Orkney, to be followed byNorse domination by the endof the millennium.

The people of Orkney proba-bly continued with their pas-toral agriculture and fishing aspreviously, but muchimproved ships allowed morecontact with the outsideworld, and certainly by the 8th

century many families wereliving in remarkably goodhouses with a reasonable stan-dard of life.

The Picts were first men-tioned by Eumenius in AD297, as Picti. Their ancestorswere also earlier referred to byPytheas as Pretani. He alsocalled the headland facingOrkney Cape Orcas. ThePretani are said to be one ofthe first Celtic tribes to arrivein Britain and seem to be con-nected with the Picts. Celticpeople thus seem to have beenliving in the north of Scotlandat least as early as the fourthcentury BC.

Irish legend refers to the Pictsas Cruithni - descendants of aking called Cruithne and hisseven sons. They were a Celticpeople who inhabitedNorthern and EasternScotland, who spoke a form ofBrittonic Celtic, and who leftnumerous sculptured symbolstones, some houses and forts,but virtually no languageapart from some place names.A form of Irish Ogam scriptwas used, but most of theinscriptions have so far provedindecipherable, although thismay soon change.

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HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

Cross-incised stone, Brough of Birsay

Stone with carved feet, St Mary's Kirk, Burwick, South Ronaldsay

Cross-slab from St Boniface, Papay

Orkney Museum

102

THE PICTS IN ORKNEY

Pictish stone, Brough of Birsay (replica)

cated to St Peter, suggestingthat they may have been in useby the general population aswell as by priests. EarlierChristian sites have also fre-quently been built over withnew churches.

Recent excavations haverevealed much about Pictishbuildings. In particular atBuckquoy (Birsay) and atSkaill (Deerness) houses fromthe 7th & early 8th centuriesshow that some of the Pictslived in substantial dwellings,grew oats and bere, raised cat-tle, sheep and pigs. They alsofished extensively offshore,showing that they had seawor-thy boats. There was somecommunication with the out-side world as shown by arte-facts. The Brough of Birsay

has considerable pre-Norsestructures also, and is the onlyplace where Pictish structuresare now visible, apart from thePictish houses at the Broch ofGurness.

The suggestion is that theBrough was both a monasticand secular site, where thePapae ministered to the spiri-

tual needs of the people, whileskilled craftsmen dealt withthe more material aspects.Evidence that the site wasmonastic is limited to a fewartefacts, such as a Celtic bellfragment, but there is proof ofconsiderable bronze castingoperations during the 8th cen-tury in the area of the Pictishwell. Many intricate moulds

been unified under Kennethmac Alpin and the NorthernIsles were already underNorse threat.

There has been speculationthat Christianity might havecaused much of the downfallof Pictish power. Inheritancemay have followed the femaleline, at least for the kings.Many of the beliefs of Pictishsociety as deduced from thesymbol stones, may have beendifferent to Christian think-ing, implying that Christianitymight have been quite alien tothe Picts. Finally the increas-ing numbers of pagan Norseraiders and settlers could haveexploited the disintegratingsociety, and taken over easily.Although the Orkneyinga Saga

makes no mention of thePicts, it nevertheless refers tothe Pentland Firth asPeetalands Fjordur, Fjord ofPictland. In addition suchnames as Pickiequoy andQuoypettie suggest Picts. Thevast majority of place names inOrkney are derived from OldNorse, but there remain sever-al which may come from thePictish language. Theseinclude Airy, Knucker Hill,Kili Holm, Egilsay, CantickHead, and perhaps even theOld Man (of Hoy).

Old dialect words such as diss(small stack), kro (small enclo-sure), keero (native sheep),rental (as in riggarental) andtreb (as in treb dyke) mightcome from the old Pictish lan-

guage. In addition the Moonwas masculine in the Norn -the Old Norse language spo-ken in Orkney until a fewhundred years ago. This ismost unusual, and perhapsreflects the Pictish form.However equally well theseforms may derive from laterScots Gaelic.

There are several Papa names(Papdale, Papa Westray, PapaStronsay, Paplay), indicatingsites where Christian Papaewere living when the Norsearrived. No doubt there wereso dubbed by the Vikingsbecause of the presence ofthese monks. Many chapelsites predate the Viking settle-ment, including St Bonifaceand the Brough of Birsay, aswell as a good number dedi-

105

INTRODUCTION - HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

Spindle whorl from Buckquoy

Reconstructed Pictish house interior, Broch of Gurness

Carding combs from Buckquoy

Iron Age comb Pictish-style comb from Buckquoy

Orkney Museum

Orkney Museum

Orkney Museum

Orkney Museum

104

Bone pins from Buckquoy

Razor found at Howe Broch, Stromness Quartz pebble with painted black spots

THE PICTS IN ORKNEY

Reconstructed Pictish house from the entrance, Broch of Gurness

Orkney Museum

were found, suggesting thatBirsay may have been animportant centre for crafts-men at that time. On theother hand the moulds may benothing more than the prod-ucts of an itinerant artisan.

Several symbol stones havebeen found in Orkney. Thereplica of the Birsay stone atthe Brough is the most spec-tacular, but at least anothereight have been found here.The spectacular Flotta altercross is in Edinburgh andsome others have been lost.The Burrian Cross is inEdinburgh, but the BurrianEagle may be seen in theOrkney Museum.

Several Ogam inscriptionshave been found in Orkney.These enigmatic rune-likemessages have so far defeatedlinguist’s attempts at transla-tion, but recently persuasivework suggests that many arein fact in Old Norse and canbe logically transliterated.

107

TIMELINE - PICTS

AD43 Orkney said to submit to

Claudius, Islands of the Picts79 Agricola invades Scotland83 Mons Graupius campaign84 Roman fleet subdues Orkneyc.100 Start of decline of brochs122 Hadrian's Wall begun142 Antonine Wall begunc.150 Ptolemy’s map compiled

from Agricola’s campaign208-211 Severus campaigns in

Scotland297 Eumenius mentions two

tribes of Picti in North BritainSouthern British pacified

306 Constantius campaigns313 Romanized Britons in

lowlands becoming Christian367 Picts breach Hadrian's Wallc.400 Hadrian's Wall abandonedc.561 King Bridei receives

Columba near Inverness, Orkney Pictish king present

564 Orkney hostages inInverness to guarantee safepassage to missionaries

580 Dalriada expedition by seaagainst Orkney

600s First Orkney Pictish housesites known

c.680 Symbol stones erected nowtill end of Pictish Kingdom

682 Pictish king Bridei mac Bilelays Orkney waste

685 Northumbrians defeated715 Nechtan transfers bishopric

from Iona to NorthumbriaSt Boniface leads mission tohis court, story of St TredwellEstablishment of St Peterchurches, often near old brochs

741 Dalriada defeats Picts underKing Oengus

742 Norsemen attack Pictish fort at Burghead

late 700s Pictish hoards at BurgarBroch & St Ninian s IsleNorse raids increasing,settlement begun

800 Norse settlement in Orkneycomplete

839 Norsemen defeat King ofPicts, Uuen, son of Oengus

843 Unification of Picts & Scotsunder Kenneth mac AlpinEnd of Pictish Kingdom

PICTISH SITES TOVISIT

Kirkwall Orkney MuseumBirsay Brough of Birsay

Point of BuckquoyBurgar Broch

Evie Broch of GurnessSandwick Knowe of VerronDeerness SkaillPapay St Boniface

St TredwellsPapa Stronsay St Nicholas ChapelN Ronaldsay Burrian BrochS Ronaldsay Old St Mary s

St Peter’s, East Side

Carved bone from N Ronaldsay

Ogam-inscribed stone from Pool inSanday, transliterates to “RV AV ORC”which can be expanded to “HROLVRAV ORCNEIUM” or “Hrolf from theOrkneys”

Symbol stone removed from St Peter’s Kirk, South Ronaldsay

HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY

PICTISH SYMBOLSTONES IN ORKNEY

Kirkwall Orkney MuseumEdinburgh National Museum

ORIGINAL SOURCES

Firth RedlandEvie Aikerness BeachBirsay Brough of BirsayHarray Knowe of BurrianHolm GraemeshallDeerness SkaillPapay St BonifaceN Ronaldsay Burrian BrochPapa Stronsay Old ChurchBurray BrochS Ronaldsay St Peter’s KirkFlotta Altar frontSouth Walls Osmondwall

RCAHMS

106

Excavations in progress at Skaill, Deerness on a Pictish farm

Pictish Eagle found at the Knowe of Burrian, Harray in 1936

THE PICTS IN ORKNEY

Pictish symbols on bone, Burray

Orkney Museum