Skara
Brae
The village of Skara Brae – looking out onto the Bay Of
Skail. The houses vary from 4-6 metres in width and length.
It’s thought that the roofs would have been made from turf
and held up by whalebone or timber.
The village as it is today. Archaeological digs have
shown that there were houses below the present site.
It is thought that the village was lived in during 2
main stages. The site that remains today contains 2
houses from the earlier period of settlement
There are 10 buildings in the village – some bigger than others.
The building on the right in this picture stands on its own and is
thought to be a workshop. The other buildings are linked by
covered passages which are the ‘streets’ of the village.
The walls are made from stone which comes from quarries
in the area or the beach. These walls contain shelves for
storage.
The covered
passages which
linked the houses at
Skara Brae.
Why would they
have needed covered
passages?
This picture is taken from inside a house and shows
the doorway. The doors were not hinged like doors
today. They were simple slabs of stone fixed in the
doorway.
How do you think they fixed them in position?
A birdseye view of the inside of one of the houses. In the middle
of each building is a central hearth or fireplace. Fuel was
probably animal dung, seaweed, heather and bones
This is a stone dresser and
is situated facing the door
of the house. Some of the
dressers have a stone seat
in front of them.
The dressers would have
been used to store things or
perhaps to display
possessions.
Can you see the stone boxes? They
were set into the floor and lined
with clay to make them watertight.
It is thought that they were used to
soak limpets for use as fish bait.
The people of the village were fishermen and
farmers. We know this because animal bones were
found which showed they kept cattle and sheep and
a few pigs. Lots of fish bones have been found.
Barley and wheat grains have been found
Tools found at Skara Brae were made mostly from
stone – usually flint – and bone. They were used for
cutting wood, scraping and sewing skins and various
other things.
Some of the houses have small compartments with drains
underneath them. They may have been used as an indoor toilet.
Why would they put a toilet indoors?
A bone necklace found in one of the houses. This
would have taken a long time to make.
Why would it have been left behind?
Beads, pendants and pins were found in the village and are
evidence that the people who lived here liked to make and
wear jewellery ‘Paint pots’ made from stone and shell have
also been found. These would have been used to mix paint
for body decoration or colouring carvings.
These lovely objects have been made with great skill
This is a stone bed made from large stone slabs. You can
see cupboards set into the wall above the bed where they
would have kept personal possessions. The beds were
probably lined with heather and animal skins were used as
blankets.