Heart of Neolithic Orkney

The group of Neolithic monuments on Orkney consists of a large chambered tomb (Maes Howe), two ceremonial stone circles (the Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar) and a settlement (Skara Brae), together with a number of unexcavated burial, ceremonial and settlement sites.

The site has been granted UNESCO status, and is one of the most well-preserved sites of this era. Excavations have shown that the original inhabitants were competent hunters, fishermen and farmers, with evidence of line-catch fishing and harvesting of barley.

The standing stones at Stenness were orignally formed in a circle, and would have been comparable to Stonehenge and other Neolithic constructions across Wales and England of that era.

Images

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