Skara Brae Prehistoric Village

Skara Brae (10mi/16.3km north of Stromness) is by far the most important prehistoric site on the Orkneys. It appears to have been inhabited without interruption between 3100 and 2500 B.C. The people farmed the land and bred animals from huts constructed of flat stones and slabs which were then covered with earth. The most remarkable thing about Skara Brae is that some of the Stone Age interior furnishings have survived such as hearths, bed boxes made from stone slabs (filled with straw), a similar stone structure rather like a cupboard and the occasional niche with a drainage channel, probably a toilet. Two buildings from the first phase remain, but the rest of the houses date from the second phase. These were bigger and, unlike the