Stone Age to the Iron Age

Brae and why it is important.

I can explain how Skara Brae was discovered.
I can tell you the names of some items found at Skara Brae.
I can explain how Skara Brae shows that Stone Age people were beginning to change how they lived.

used to bad weather, but last night’s storm was no ordinary storm. It revealed a secret kept hidden for thousands of years; a site previously inhabited by prehistoric people.
Local landowner, William Watt, was out walking when he came upon this extraordinary sight.
‘I’ve been walking these lands for many a year, so the stone clumps that I could see in the distance stood out as strange’, explained Watt, 44.
William Watt could not believe his eyes as the magnitude of what he had discovered was slowly revealed.
Experts have not yet been called the scene, because the landowner would prefer to

explore the artefacts himself. William Watt thought that the buildings appeared to be Neolithic (late Stone Age, around 3000 BC), which makes them older than the ancient pyramids, Stonehenge and the Great Wall of China.
Who knows what stories will be told as this man digs for information at the site. What we know for sure is that the people of these islands are soon to discover more about this hidden treausure.
By Thomas McDonnell.

site, finding four houses altogether. Excavations (digging) were abandoned after this point.
However, in 1925, another storm damaged the houses that William Watt had found. When people began to build a protective wall around the prehistoric buildings, they found more Stone Age homes.
An archaeological dig began.

were beginning to settle down in one place, making homes and farming, rather than being on the move all of the time.
The people who lived there had started growing their own food and looking after livestock.

built in the Neolithic period, around 3000 BC.
It was discovered in 1850, after a heavy storm stripped away the earth that had previously been covering what we can see today.

Orkney is off the North coast of Scotland. Skara Brae can be found on Mainland, the largest of the Orkneys.

Photo courtesy of wronski (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution

not all built at the same time, so at some point the original village was added to. Apart from one building, which stands slightly separate from the others, the layout of the houses is very similar.

The houses were linked by covered passageways.

Photo courtesy of wronski and shadowgate (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution

one main room with a fire pit in the middle, and beds built into the walls at the sides.

Photo courtesy of wronski and shadowgate (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution

The later houses were slightly bigger and more rectangular, although the corners were still rounded. They still built stone beds, but not into the walls. The fire pit and stone shelves remained.

Each house also had a set of stone shelves, called a dresser.

shorter than we are today.
Lower doorways would also have helped keep the weather out.
The doors were stone slabs, and could be bolted shut.

Photo courtesy of wronski and shadowgate (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution

Although the doorways seem very small to

others. However, it’s worth looking a little more closely.

Photo courtesy of wronski and shadowgate (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution

Some interesting facts about house seven:
The bodies of two women were found in a stone grave under a wall. They were buried before the house was built. This could have been part of a ritual.
The door could only be bolted from the outside. The people inside the house would not be able to leave of their own free will.
Unlike the other passageways, the passage to house seven went only to house seven.

What could these facts tell us?
What do you think the house might have been used for?

No. 7

passageways, house eight stands alone. It had carved patterns on the walls and no beds or shelves. It could have been a workshop or meeting place, or simply built on the site at a later date.

Photo courtesy of wronski and shadowgate (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution

There were no windows, but there may have been a smoke hole in the roof. There would have been some light from the fire. As wood was scarce on the Orkney Islands, they were more likely to have burnt seaweed, dried animal dung and peat.

No. 8

The floor area inside would be between 36 - 40m2. some people today who live in small apartments might have the same living space. With straw and heather to make mattresses and animal skins for blankets, it would have been relatively cosy – at least compare to outside!

discarded rubbish that would have protected the walls from the elements as well as provide a layer of insulation.
None of the houses have a roof, so they must have been made from something that has since perished.
A common early roofing material in Orkney was seaweed, fixed with ropes and stones.
They could also have used straw, animal skins or turf, laid over a frame of driftwood or whale bones found on the shore.

Photo courtesy of wronski and shadowgate (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution

including cattle and sheep, and barley and wheat grown nearby, suggest a farming community.

Plentiful remains of fish and shellfish indicate they were also skilled fishermen. Large piles of limpets were found, but these weren’t necessarily part of their diet, they may have been used for bait.

The lack of weapons found suggest that life was peaceful.

Richly carved stone objects might have been used for religious rituals.

Bone tools, along with the absence of tools for weaving, indicate that animal skins were used for clothing.

Many examples of jewellery were found including pendants, pins, necklaces and beads.

dig, to reveal the rest of William Watt’s site.
Your Challenge:
Can you plan a television news report from 1925 as if you are archaeologists discovering the artefacts for the first time?
Watch this documentary.

to gather your ideas and create a group news report.
Remember to:
Use facts.
Explain when the site was first discovered.
Include an interview.
Explain why Skara Brae has been chosen for this year’s dig.
Explain what the artefacts tell us about the Stone Age.

explain when the site was first discovered?
Is there an inverview?
Does the report explain why Skara Brae has been chosen for this year’s dig?
Does the report explain what the artefacts tell us about the Stone Age?
Is the report obviously set in 1925?

Brae and why it is important.

I can explain how Skara Brae was discovered.
I can tell you the names of some items found at Skara Brae.
I can explain how Skara Brae shows that Stone Age people were beginning to change how they lived.