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| Introduction |
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| Although
henge monuments can be found elsewhere in Scotland, at Cairnpapple
Hill just outside Edinburgh and Balfarg in Fife for example,
they can hardly be considered common. It is a little bit surprising,
therefore, that there are two major henge monuments within a
mile of one another in the remote Orkney Islands. |
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| The
Orkneys lie off the extreme northwest corner of the Scottish
mainland and, although the distance is only a few miles, the
intervening stretch of water—the Pentland Firth—is
among the most treacherous in the world. Violent tidal races
flow through from the North Sea and the Atlantic and gale force
winds are not infrequent. Even so, they were settled very early
in the Neolithic. The houses at Knap
of Howar on Papa Westray, which date to about 3600
BC, represent the earliest standing buildings in Europe. The
slightly later community at Skara
Brae has been described in detail elsewhere on
this web site (see article). Although there are many
similarities between the two settlements, they are distinguished
by their pottery. Unstan Ware, characterized by shallow bowls
with rounded bottoms and decorated rims, is found at Knap of
Howar while the highly decorated, flat-bottomed Grooved Ware
is more common at Skara Brae. Whether this distinction represents
different cultural traditions (different ‘tribes’
for example), different functions, or simply the passage of
time is unknown. |
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Maes
Howe, Stenness & Brodgar from a Victorian print |
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| As
was the case elsewhere, the earliest inhabitants erected chambered
tombs to serve as repositories for the bones of their ancestors
and to mark their territory. Through these relics they could
summon the spirits of their ancestors to give them guidance
and approval. They could intercede on the family’s behalf
with the external forces that controlled their lives. The tombs
are divided into two types, each associated with a different
type of pottery—Orkney-Cromarty
Cairns normally contain Unstan Ware while Grooved
Ware is found in
Maes Howe Tombs. Of the 80 or so tombs that have
been discovered, all but ten of them are stalled cairns. The
Maes Howe tombs are much larger and more elaborate requiring
much more effort on the part of more people. This suggests that
they were later. Unfortunately, the radiocarbon evidence is
not entirely conclusive owing to their wide margin of error.
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Maes
Howe, with Stenness & Brodgar in the middle distance.
From a Victorian print |
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| Of
all the tombs, by far the most impressive is Maes Howe itself.
It looks onto a pair of lochs, the Lochs of Harray and of Stenness,
separated by a narrow spit of land. This particular spot is
at the centre of what seems to have been a natural meeting place
for the inhabitants of the islands It is readily accessible
by both land and water and surrounded by a ring of hills—very
reminiscent of Callanish
on the Isle of Lewis. While Harray is a freshwater loch, Stenness
is open to the sea. Here is yet another dualistic element in
the Neolithic cosmology, along with male-and-female, life-and-death,
summer-and-winter, good-and-evil, etc. It is interesting, therefore,
that there are two great stone circles here—the Stones
of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar. |
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Looking
southwest, towards the hills of Hoy, from the Stones of Stenness |
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| The
Heart of Neolithic Orkney |
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| In
addition to the circles and the tomb, there are a number associated
sites, including a small stone circle at Bookan, a number
of Bronze Age tombs and several standing stones. So dense
is the concentration that the area has been designated a World
Heritage Site, the Heart of Neolithic Orkney. |
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| Within
100 metres or so of Stenness (and probably contemporary with
it) is small village known as Barnhouse. The unusual character
of the buildings (discussed in greater detail in an upcoming
article) suggests that they may have housed a community of priests
or priestesses. |
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| It
has been suggested that the smaller of the two circles, the
Stones of Stenness, is the earlier. Both are associated with
tombs but, while those near Stenness are mainly Neolithic in
date, the Ring of Brodgar is surrounded by round cairns belonging
to the Early Bronze Age. |
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| Recent
Excavations |
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| Since
2003, there have been annual excavations at Ness of Brodgar,
the area just north of the causeway separating the two stone
circles. These are bound to have an enormous impact on our understanding
of the relationships among all of the monuments in the vicinity.
As far as I am concerned, that is a neat excuse for setting
my conclusions aside for a few years, until all of this new
information can be properly digested. |
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| Further
Reading |
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| Burl,
Aubrey |
(2000) |
Stone
Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany |
| Cunliffe,
Barry |
(2001) |
Facing
the Ocean: the Atlantic and its Peoples |
| Garnham,
Trevor |
(2004) |
Lines
on the Landscape, Circles from the Sky |
| Renfrew,
Colin |
(1979) |
Investigations
in Orkney, Society of Antiquaries of London, Research
Report No. 38 |
| Renfrew,
Colin (edit) |
(1985) |
The
Prehistory of Orkney |
| Richards,
Colin |
(2005) |
Dwelling
among the Monuments |
| Ritchie,
Anna |
(1996) |
Orkney |
| Ritchie,
J N G |
(1978) |
'The
Stones of Stenness, Orkney', Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 107 |
| Scarre,
Chris |
(2007) |
The
Megalithic Monuments of Britain and Ireland |
| Wickham-Jones,
Caroline |
(2006) |
Between
the Wind and the Water, World Heritage Orkney |
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