Skara Brae (disambiguation) facts for kids

Skara Brae is an amazing ancient village found on the west coast of the Orkney Islands in Scotland. It's a very special place because it's one of the best-preserved Stone Age settlements in Europe. Imagine living there over 5,000 years ago!

What is Skara Brae?

Skara Brae is a Neolithic village. The Neolithic period is also known as the New Stone Age. This was a time when people started farming and building permanent homes. Skara Brae was built around 3180 BC and was used for about 600 years. It was home to a small community of people.

How Was Skara Brae Discovered?

For thousands of years, Skara Brae was hidden under sand dunes. It was completely covered and forgotten. Then, in the winter of 1850, a huge storm hit Orkney. The storm was so powerful that it stripped away the sand and grass. This revealed the stone walls of the ancient village.

A local landowner, William Watt, started to explore the site. Later, archaeologists began to carefully dig and uncover the rest of the village. They found a whole community preserved under the sand.

What Did People Live In?

The homes at Skara Brae are made entirely of stone. There are eight houses connected by covered passages. The houses are round and built into mounds of rubbish and sand. This helped to keep them warm and protected from the harsh weather.

Inside a Skara Brae Home

Each house has a large central room. In the middle of the room, there is a stone hearth for a fire. This fire would have provided warmth and a place for cooking. Around the walls, you can see stone beds. These beds might have been covered with animal skins for comfort.

You can also see stone dressers and storage boxes. These show how organized the people were. They used the stone that was easily available to build everything they needed.

What Was Life Like at Skara Brae?

The people of Skara Brae were farmers and fishers. They grew crops like barley and raised animals such as cattle and sheep. They also fished in the nearby sea. Their diet included fish, shellfish, and meat from their animals.

They used tools made from stone, bone, and antlers. These tools helped them with farming, hunting, and building. They also made pottery for storing food and water.

Art and Culture

The people of Skara Brae were also artists. They carved patterns into some of their stone objects. They also made beads and pendants from bone and teeth. These items show that they cared about beauty and personal decoration.

Why Was Skara Brae Abandoned?

Around 2500 BC, the people of Skara Brae left their village. The exact reason is not fully known. One idea is that the climate changed. The weather might have become colder and wetter. This could have made farming harder.

Another idea is that the sand dunes started to move. The village might have become buried again by sand. This would have made it difficult to live there. The people likely moved to another area to find a new home.

Skara Brae Today

Today, Skara Brae is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This means it's recognized as a very important place for everyone in the world. Thousands of visitors come each year to see this amazing ancient village. It helps us understand how people lived thousands of years ago.