Roofs At Skara Brae

The meaning of the skara skerra part of the name is unknown.

Roofs at skara brae.

Skara brae ˈ s k ær ə ˈ b r eɪ is a stone built neolithic settlement located on the bay of skaill on the west coast of mainland the largest island in the orkney archipelago of scotland consisting of eight clustered houses it was occupied from roughly 3180 bc to about 2500 bc and is europe s most complete neolithic village. Before that in 1857 ce the village was believed to have been covered by a sand storm. Neolithic carvings beneath the glass viewing roof of one of its famous domed homes were threatened by an unstable environment. What and where is skara brae.

What do we know about the people. Houses at skara brae were made of stacked stone slabs built into midden mounds made of waste material like animal bones and bits of rubbish. The amazing artefacts discovered at this incredible site give us an insight into what life was like in britain during that time. P ossibly the oldest and longest used structure in skara brae goes by the name of house seven.

Because the houses were built into the midden from the outside the village would have appeared as a low round mound broken only by the surface of each house s roof. Brae describes a hill. Wood has always been at a premium in orkney but driftwood from the carolinas or the ribs of beached whales would have provided a suitable framework to. The sandwick folklorist george marwick mentions the mound being used as a meed by local fishermen.

This structure the best preserved on the site was found to be standing on natural sand while the other houses in the settlement were built on top of the remains of previous structures. Skara brae was believed to have been destroyed by a sand storm in 1850 a huge storm hit the island which blew away the sand and allowed a little bit of the village to be seen. The midden served as a great. The bay of skaill did not exist at the time and skara brae was located in the middle of low grassland which ran out over the dunes to the ancient shoreline a few hundred metres away.

The site was originally known in orkney as a mound called skerrabra this has been corrupted over the years to skara brae. Skara brae case study. Skara brae house roofs. Skara brae is one of the best preserved neolithic settlements anywhere in western europe which makes it a super special find for archeologists.

After the site was abandoned it was buried beneath the sand which preserved the houses up to the full height of their walls. Why would they do this. No trace of the roofs survives.