Orkney Excavation Reveals 5000 year old Temple Complex

originally posted by: beansidhe

I know that a lot of Orkney has been sunk over the years, but still you're right, people would have travelled by boat. It makes me wonder who all was coming up, and why?

That is a question that I would love to know the answer to. After all back then Britain was not exactly overcrowded ! So why would you settle in such a damned windy wet area of britain? The grass is taller than the trees ! very very impressive stone neolithic houses though at Scara Brae, beds, cupboards, tables etc and all from stone......

originally posted by: WanDash

originally posted by: beansidhe

Thanks for the news, beansidhe
Any idea how they concluded that the buildings/houses in this pic' were constructed in the depicted fashion?
Put another way - what confidence do you have in the artistic rendering?

Thanks!

Hi WanDash.
Lots, is the short answer.

They've excavated the foundations for the buildings and have a good idea of the sizes. As for construction, similar houses are found (as Yorkshire Lad just pointed out) at Skara Brae and Papa Westray, amongst others.





And Papa Westray:



Many more examples at this link:

Neolithic Orkney

It looks like a fairly bleak representation, but when you fill in the plants and grass, the people and animals, the lanes between the houses etc, my guess is it's fairly accurate. Thanks for dropping by.

a reply to: yorkshirelad

I'm sure it was Caesar who wrote (I should really check this) that there were colleges in Orkney, where Druids trained their students who came from Britain and France. He was writing around 3000 years after the Ness of Brodgar was created, and a couple of thousand after it was abandoned but..but..it could be that the traditions he spoke of were already ancient. It could have been a centre for excellence if you like, an astronomical lecture hall. Or maybe they held the best parties!

Hopefully this dig will offer more clues as to it's purpose, but I agree with you it is really intriguing.

a reply to: beansidhe
I wouldn't exactly call this news, though it may be news to you. They've been digging in the area since 2004 and started in earnest in 2007.

There was even a BBC documentary with Neil Oliver shown on tv in the UK in Jan 2012 and shown outside of the UK since then. I know I saw it on Canadian tv.

It is a very interesting discovery.

originally posted by: beansidhe
a reply to: SirKonstantin

It's really amazing, I agree. And yet their ancestors were building observatories almost 5000 years earlier!

The world's oldest calendar in Aberdeenshire field

Way cool thread. I'm not surprised that they were intense on observation and calendars. When your growing season is as brief as it is in northern latitudes, every day the fields are cultivated is damned important.

a reply to: erwalker

Yes it's a well established dig and one I keep an eye on from time to time. The exciting part is the fact that Mae's Howe, the standing stones and the ring of Brodgar can now be shown to have been part of an overall 'plan', that is they have a linked purpose within the complex.
Along with the uncovering of the 'cathedral', it is confirming beliefs that this is no ordinary neolithic site in Scotland.

I'll have a look for the Neil Oliver programme you mentioned, and see if I can add it onto the thread.

a reply to: NavyDoc

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
That calendar really is something because to the best of my knowledge it pre-dates agriculture in Scotland - or certainly our evidence of agriculture at that time.

And yet they were timekeeping for something, perhaps migrating animals or the tides and fish stocks? I'm not sure about that, but I agree it was a brilliant discovery.

originally posted by: beansidhe
a reply to: NavyDoc

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
That calendar really is something because to the best of my knowledge it pre-dates agriculture in Scotland - or certainly our evidence of agriculture at that time.

And yet they were timekeeping for something, perhaps migrating animals or the tides and fish stocks? I'm not sure about that, but I agree it was a brilliant discovery.

All of the above, probably. The largest imperative for our early ancestors was food. I'd suggest that most of these innovations were centered around the timing of planting and, as you suggest, the timing of movement of food animals.

a reply to: NavyDoc

A bit more info from the video erwalker mentioned. There's some great panoramic views in this, worth a watch: