Sirena is scheduled to drop anchor in Kirkwall at 9am. Prior to that, we all have to go through immigration because we are now back in Great Britain. As is almost everything that Oceania organizes, this process goes quickly and easily. In fact, Cathy recognizes the immigration official as the same one we had in the Shetland Islands a few weeks back. She is friendly and welcoming. We are one of the first groups to be processed because our excursion has the earliest start time of 9:15am in Sirena Lounge.
We take the tender into Kirkwall. On the dock, we meet our guide Helen and driver Mike. Our excursion is Ancient Treasures of Orkney, a four-hour tour of some of the pre-historic landmarks of these islands. We will be staying on the largest and most populous island appropriately named Mainland, and will visit three of the UNESCO Heart of Neolithic Orkney sites, all of which date back 5,000 years.
As we leave the town on our bus, Helen gives us some personal history. She is an archeologist by training and profession and hails from the south of England. She moved to the Orkneys specifically in order to study the six sites that make up the Heart of Neolithic Orkney. She is also a teacher, and it shows in the way that she conducts her tour. As we drive along to our first site, she briefs us on the Orkneys. Here are some of the points she makes:
- The Orkneys are an archipelago of 70 islands that are part of Scotland, but with a rich Norse heritage.
- The capital is Kirkwall, a town of 9,000 people.
- The Orkneys have a total population of 23,000, but they also have a cattle population of 129,000 at this time of year.
- Raising cattle for export is the primary economy driver, primarily Aberdeen Angus beef cattle, many of whom have been crossbred with two other breeds.
- The primary field crop is grass to feed the cattle, but barley is also grown. That too is basically for cattle fodder, but some of it is made into bread as well.
- The trees we see will all be short due to the strong winds that are practically constant here. Our guide is marveling at the weather, which is sunny, with winds no higher than 5-6mph and temperatures in the 60s. This is a rare day in the Orkneys, and she does remind us more than once how lucky we are to be here with this kind of weather.
Her enthusiasm for the sites we are to visit is contagious. We near the Standing Stones of Stenness, and she can’t wait to tell us about it. We disembark the bus and follow her on a quarter-mile trail to the site itself.
She has already told us about nearby Barnhouse and Maeshowe as we passed by them. It was impossible to keep up with the flow of information she gave us, so we have resorted to Wikipedia’s excellent articles to explain what we are seeing today: “The Standing Stones of Stenness is a Neolithic monument five miles northeast of Stromness on the mainland of Orkney, Scotland. This may be the oldest henge [The word henge refers to a particular type of earthwork of the Neolithic period, typically consisting of a roughly circular or oval-shaped bank with an internal ditch surrounding a central flat area of more than 20 m (66 ft) in diameter.] site in the British Isles. Various traditions associated with the stones survived into the modern era. …
“The surviving stones are sited on a promontory at the south bank of the stream that joins the southern ends of the sea loch Loch of Stenness and the freshwater Loch of Harray. The name, which is pronounced stane-is in Orcadian dialect, comes from Old Norse meaning stone headland. The stream is now bridged, but at one time was crossed by a stepping stone causeway, and the Ring of Brodgar lies about 1.2 km (0.75 mi) away to the north-west, across the stream and near the tip of the isthmus formed between the two lochs. Maeshowe chambered cairn is about 1.2 km (0.75 mi) to the east of the Standing Stones of Stenness and several other Neolithic monuments also lie in the vicinity, suggesting that this area had particular importance.
“Although the site today lacks the encircling ditch and bank, excavation has shown that this used to be a henge monument, possibly the oldest in the British Isles. The stones are thin slabs, approximately 30 cm (12 in) thick with sharply angled tops. Four, up to about 5 m (16 ft) high, were originally elements of a stone circle of up to 12 stones, laid out in an ellipse about 32 m (105 ft) diameter on a levelled platform of 44 m (144 ft) diameter surrounded by a ditch. The ditch is cut into rock by as much as 2 m (6.6 ft) and is 7 m (23 ft) wide, surrounded by an earth bank, with a single entrance causeway on the north side. The entrance faces towards the Neolithic Barnhouse Settlement which has been found adjacent to the Loch of Harray. The Watch Stone stands outside the circle to the north-west and is 5.6 m (18 ft) high. Once there were at least two stones there, as in the 1930s the stump of a second stone was found.”
Helen tells us that this site originally has 12 stones and only 4 remain. She adds that it certainly had religious or astronomical significance to those who built and maintained it. She says “I am an archeologist, but, more specifically, I am a landscape archeologist, so I want to tell you that the location of the Standing Stones of Stenness was particularly important.” She shows us that the Orkneys’ two largest lochs, or lakes, are adjacent to the site, and that the location was chosen to make it appear to be on an island. Everything about this place has significance, and especially the landscape.
She tells us that these sites were desecrated somewhat in the Victorian era because people had no idea of how old they were or what their purposes might have been. She sounds frustrated when she tells us that, and says she can only guess how much valuable information and artifacts were lost due to this. Nevertheless, new technology such as carbon dating and DNA information tells us that it was begun around 3100 BCE. It feels unreal to be standing in such a hallowed, mysterious place. We are beginning to share her fascination with these ancient sites.
Back in to the bus for the short drive to the next site, the Ring of Brodgar, which is another henge site. It is the largest such site in the Orkneys and the third largest in Great Britain. While the assumption has been made that it may be as old as the Standing Stone of Stenness, there is still research going on to confirm that. Originally there were 60 stones, but only 27 remain.
Here is more information from Wikipedia, after which we will pick up the tour with more info from Helen: “The Ring of Brodgar (or Brogar, or Ring o’ Brodgar) is a Neolithic henge and stone circle in Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. It is the only major henge and stone circle in Britain which is an almost perfect circle. Most henges do not contain stone circles; Brodgar is a striking exception, ranking with Avebury and Stonehenge among the greatest of such sites. The ring of stones stands on a small isthmus between the Lochs of Stenness and Harray. These are the northernmost examples of circle henges in Britain. Unlike similar structures such as Avebury, there are no obvious stones inside the circle, but since the interior of the circle has never been excavated by archaeologists, the possibility remains that wooden structures, for example, may have been present. The site has resisted attempts at scientific dating and the monument’s age remains uncertain. It is generally thought to have been erected between 2500 BC and 2000 BC, and was, therefore, the last of the great Neolithic monuments built on the Ness. A project called The Ring of Brodgar Excavation 2008 was undertaken in the summer of that year in an attempt to settle the age issue and help answer other questions about a site that remains relatively poorly understood. The results of the excavation are still preliminary.
“The stone circle is 104 metres (341 ft) in diameter, and the third largest in the British Isles. The ring originally comprised up to 60 stones, of which only 27 remained standing at the end of the 20th century. The tallest stones stand at the south and west of the ring, including the “Comet Stone” to the south-east. The stones are set within a circular ditch up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) deep, 9 metres (30 ft) wide and 380 metres (1,250 ft) in circumference that was carved out of the solid sandstone bedrock by the ancient residents. Technically, this ditch does not constitute a true henge as there is no sign of an encircling bank of earth and rock. Many archaeologists continue to refer to this structure as a henge; for example, Aubrey Burl classifies the ditch as a Class II henge; one that has two opposing entrances, in this case on the north-west and south-east.
“The ditch appears to have been created in sections, possibly by workforces from different parts of Orkney. The stones may have been a later addition, maybe erected over a long period of time.
“Examination of the immediate environs reveals a concentration of ancient sites, making a significant ritual landscape. Within 2 square miles (5.2 km2) there are the two circle-henges, four chambered tombs, groups of standing stones, single stones, barrows, cairns, and mounds. The immediate area has also yielded a number of flint arrowheads and broken stone mace-heads that seem to date from the Bronze Age. Although its exact purpose is not known, the proximity of the Standing Stones of Stenness and its Maeshowe tomb make the Ring of Brodgar a site of major importance.”
Our guide is definitely one of the archeologists that calls the ditch surrounding the Ring a henge. It is 20 meters wide and 5 meters deep (65 feet wide by 16 feet deep). She says that its construction required 100,000 manhours of labor to complete, primarily because it was dug out of sandstone. The Ring of Brodgar also slopes to the east and is situated between the two lochs. This site was used for 1,500 years, and was ‘remodeled’ several times. It is 100 meters (328 feet) in diameter.
As we walk around the entire ring, she says she has to tell us one more thing about her personal life: she was married here fourteen years ago. Her husband is also an archeologist, so this was the most significant place they knew of to tie the knot. Along the way, she also says to us: “I knew this would happen. One of you uttered what I consider the f-word: Stonehenge. Many of us who have been studying the Ring of Brodgar think that Stonehenge, while important, is overrated. It gets a lot more publicity because it brings in way more tourists. In other words, the British government publicizes it because it brings in more money.” She admits to exaggerating her opinion a bit, but it is because she wants us to know the singular significance of the place where we are standing.
We finish our tour of the Ring of Brodgar around 10;45 and hit the road for our third Neolithic Orkney site, Skara Brae. It’s a twenty-minute drive, and we arrive with careful instructions from our guide. First of all, the place is very busy, and Helen wants us to stick with her for the first half of our visit so that she can acquaint us with the site and its rules. Then we will have about an hour of free time to explore the exhibit area, tour a model of one of the houses, buy some food or shop for souvenirs.
The actual Skara Brae village is about 300 yards from the exhibit area where we gather with Helen. She explains that we must stay on the path, stay off the grass and stay in a group. These are commonsense rules because the place is so busy. The 300-yard path is cleverly marked with a sign saying that it represents how long ago 5,000 years really is. There are signs marking significant events in world history as we go down the path. It starts with the 1969 Moon Landing and there are probably 20-25 other signs with dates and events marked on them that we will see as we walk to the location of the Skara Brae village.
When we arrive, we are to walk in a clockwise direction around the village. There are 10 “houses,” all built underground. It is difficult to describe because it’s so unique, but there are signs explaining what we are seeing. Everybody there (probably 50-75 people at the time) are quiet. We are looking at some of the oldest remains of human civilization we will ever see. There is a reverence for what the people that built this so, so many years ago.
Well, it’s time to go to Wikipedia for a better description of Skara Brae than we could possibly provide, as well as much of the other information that our guide Helen provided us. We have copied much of the article on Skara Brae for several reasons. First of all, it is one of the most important archeological sites in the world, partially because it is so complete. Secondly, the article shows that archeologists’ opinions and conclusions differ significantly (and sometimes vehemently), which indicates that, as technology continues to improve, there will be much more to learn. Third of all, there is a discussion of how this site was found, which is fascinating in of itself. We have cut and pasted from several articles, so there is some repetition which we ask you to forgive us for: “Skara Brae /ˈskærə ˈbreɪ/ 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 ten clustered houses, made of flagstones, in earthen dams that provided support for the walls; the houses included stone hearths, beds, and cupboards. A primitive sewer system, with “toilets” and drains in each house, carried effluent to the ocean. (Water was used to flush waste into a drain.)
“The site was occupied from roughly 3180 BC to about 2500 BC and is Europe’s most complete Neolithic village.
“In the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll known as “Skara Brae”. When the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village consisting of several small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the local laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after four houses were uncovered, work was abandoned in 1868. The site remained undisturbed until 1913 when during a single weekend the site was plundered by a party with shovels who took away an unknown quantity of artifacts. In 1924 another storm swept away part of one of the houses, and it was determined the site should be secured and properly investigated. The job was given to the University of Edinburgh’s Professor V. Gordon Childe, who travelled to Skara Brae for the first time in mid-1927.
“The inhabitants of Skara Brae were makers and users of grooved ware, a distinctive style of pottery that had recently appeared in northern Scotland. The houses used earth sheltering, being sunk into the ground. They were sunk into mounds of pre-existing prehistoric domestic waste known as middens. This provided the houses with a stability and also acted as insulation against Orkney’s harsh winter climate. On average, each house measures 40 square metres (430 sq ft) with a large square room containing a stone hearth used for heating and cooking. Given the number of homes, it seems likely that no more than fifty people lived in Skara Brae at any given time.
“It is not clear what material the inhabitants burned in their hearths. Childe was sure that the fuel was peat, but a detailed analysis of vegetation patterns and trends suggests that climatic conditions conducive to the development of thick beds of peat did not develop in this part of Orkney until after Skara Brae was abandoned. Other possible fuels include driftwood and animal dung. There is evidence that dried seaweed may have been used significantly. At some sites in Orkney, investigators have found a glassy, slag-like material called “kelp” or “cramp” that may be residual burnt seaweed.
“The dwellings contain a number of stone-built pieces of furniture, including cupboards, dressers, seats, and storage boxes. Each dwelling was entered through a low doorway that had a stone slab door that could be closed “by a bar that slid in bar-holes cut in the stone door jambs”. A number of dwellings offered a small connected antechamber, offering access to a partially covered stone drain leading away from the village. It is suggested that these chambers served as indoor privies.
“Seven of the houses have similar furniture, with the beds and dresser in the same places in each house. The dresser stands against the wall opposite the door, and was the first thing seen by anyone entering the dwelling. Each of these houses had the larger bed on the right side of the doorway and the smaller on the left. Lloyd Laing noted that this pattern accorded with Hebrides custom up to the early 20th century suggesting that the husband’s bed was the larger and the wife’s was the smaller. The discovery of beads and paint-pots in some of the smaller beds may support this interpretation. Additional support may come from the recognition that stone boxes lie to the left of most doorways, forcing the person entering the house to turn to the right-hand, “male”, side of the dwelling. At the front of each bed lie the stumps of stone pillars that may have supported a canopy of fur; another link with recent Hebridean style.
“House 8 has no storage boxes or dresser and has been divided into something resembling small cubicles. Fragments of stone, bone and antler were excavated suggesting the house may have been used to make tools such as bone needles or flint axes. The presence of heat-damaged volcanic rocks and what appears to be a flue, support this interpretation. House 8 is distinctive in other ways as well: it is a stand-alone structure not surrounded by midden; instead it is above ground with walls over 2 metres (6.6 ft) thick and has a “porch” protecting the entrance.
“The Grooved Ware People who built Skara Brae were primarily pastoralists who raised cattle and sheep. Childe originally believed that the inhabitants did not farm, but excavations in 1972 unearthed seed grains from a midden suggesting that barley was cultivated. Fish bones and shells are common in the middens indicating that dwellers ate seafood. Limpet shells are common and may have been fish-bait that was kept in stone boxes in the homes. The boxes were formed from thin slabs with joints carefully sealed with clay to render them waterproof.
“This pastoral lifestyle is in sharp contrast to some of the more exotic interpretations of the culture of the Skara Brae people. Euan MacKie suggested that Skara Brae might be the home of a privileged theocratic class of wise men who engaged in astronomical and magical ceremonies at nearby Ring of Brodgar and the Standing Stones of Stenness. Graham and Anna Ritchie cast doubt on this interpretation noting that there is no archaeological evidence for this claim, although a Neolithic “low road” that goes from Skara Brae passes near both these sites and ends at the chambered tomb of Maeshowe. Low roads connect Neolithic ceremonial sites throughout Britain.
“Originally, Childe believed that the settlement dated from around 500 BC. This interpretation was coming under increasing challenge by the time new excavations in 1972–73 settled the question. Radiocarbon results obtained from samples collected during these excavations indicate that occupation of Skara Brae began about 3180 BC with occupation continuing for about six hundred years. Around 2500 BC, after the climate changed, becoming much colder and wetter, the settlement may have been abandoned by its inhabitants. There are many theories as to why the people of Skara Brae left; particularly popular interpretations involve a major storm. Evan Hadingham combined evidence from found objects with the storm scenario to imagine a dramatic end to the settlement:
“As was the case at Pompeii, the inhabitants seem to have been taken by surprise and fled in haste, for many of their prized possessions, such as necklaces made from animal teeth and bone, or pins of walrus ivory, were left behind. The remains of choice meat joints were discovered in some of the beds, presumably forming part of the villagers’ last supper. One woman was in such haste that her necklace broke as she squeezed through the narrow doorway of her home, scattering a stream of beads along the passageway outside as she fled the encroaching sand.
“Anna Ritchie strongly disagrees with catastrophic interpretations of the village’s abandonment:
“’A popular myth would have the village abandoned during a massive storm that threatened to bury it in sand instantly, but the truth is that its burial was gradual and that it had already been abandoned – for what reason, no one can tell.’
“The site was farther from the sea than it is today, and it is possible that Skara Brae was built adjacent to a fresh water lagoon protected by dunes. Although the visible buildings give an impression of an organic whole, it is certain that an unknown quantity of additional structures had already been lost to sea erosion before the site’s rediscovery and subsequent protection by a seawall. Uncovered remains are known to exist immediately adjacent to the ancient monument in areas presently covered by fields, and others, of uncertain date, can be seen eroding out of the cliff edge a little to the south of the enclosed area.”
As you can see, we were awestruck at what we saw and got an even better understanding of why our archeologist guide and her archeologist husband moved to the Orkneys to be near these special sites and have time to contribute their skills to better understanding the people that built them.
Steve did ask her one additional question: “Where did they come from and how did they get here?” Helen told him that, of course, they got here by boat. She said that there was a group that researched what the boat might have been like and built a replica to sail from mainland Scotland to the Orkneys. They of course had a modern boat accompany them for safety. When asked what the trip was like, they said it was difficult and scary … and that they would never repeat the journey. As to where they might have come from, Helen told him that DNA evidence indicates that they may have come from the area that is present-day Belgium.
Well, it’s time to begin heading back. Driver Mike and guide Helen consult one another and pick a route home. First we see the Isle of Hoy, the second-largest Orkney Island. We see that it is quite mountainous. Helen points out that it is volcanic in origin, while most of the other islands in the archipelago are made of sedimentary rock, hence the difference in topography.
Another advantage to the route they’ve chosen is that it will take us along part of the shore of Scapa Flow. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because of the history of this harbor during both WWI and WWII.
At 150 square miles, Scapa Flow is the second largest natural harbor in the world after the harbor in Sydney, Australia. For that and strategic reasons, Great Britain established an enormous naval base there for its Grand Fleet, the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy. To protect it, over sixty decommissioned ships were sunk to form a barrier to keep out German U-boats and destroyers.
After the war ended in Germany’s defeat, seventy-four of their warships were interned at Scapa Flow awaiting the completion of the Treaty of Versailles. On June 21, 1919, thinking that treaty negotiations had ended without an agreement, the German admiral overseeing the fleet there deliberately scuttled (i.e., sank) the entire fleet – an option he had been planning for months, done to keep the Brits from inheriting them. It turns out that an extension of the talks had been agreed to, but this news hadn’t reached this guy. Oops! The Royal Navy managed to beach a few of the ships, but 60 of them sank to the bottom. Over the years, most were raised and towed to scrap yards, but seven remain on the bottom.
Scapa Flow’s prominence in the history books continued in World War II. On October 14, 1939, a German sub found its way into the harbor and sank the WWI-era battleship Royal Oak. The ship went down in minutes, with a loss of life of over 800 sailors out of the ship’s complement of 1,400. It was a tragic loss for the British and a humiliating thing to have happened. The base eventually had 60,000 troops and sailors stationed there because Britain was expecting the Germans to attack once they took Norway. The base was also critical for convoys going to Murmansk in the Soviet Union.
The base was closed in 1956, but this enormous harbor still has a couple of functions. Most important, it serves as a location where crude oil that has been shipped via pipeline from one of three North Sea oil fields can be transferred to tankers. There is also other activity going on there that is connected with the North Sea oil fields.
The second use is recreational. The seven German warships from World War One that remain from the scuttling event in 1919, as well as several of the ships sunk to prevent U-boats from entering the harbor during both world wars, serve as prime locations for recreational scuba divers. Scapa Flow is considered one of the most desirable diving sites in the world because of these wrecks, as well as Scapa Flow being relatively shallow with a sandy bottom, making it a very safe venue. By the way, HMS Royal Oak is still on the bottom in Scapa Flow, but it is considered a war grave. Only military scuba divers are allowed to visit this important site.
We are getting close to Kirkwall, but our guide provides us with a couple of more tidbits of information:
- Scapa Flow was the final stop in Europe for ships involved with the Hudson’s Bay Company in the 17thcentury. Ships would provision there for the trip across the Atlantic to Canada where the company would trade European goods for the highly-prized beaver pelts so popular at the time. Other animal pelts were also traded. Many Orkadians went to Canada and settled there, especially around the Hudson’s Bay region.
- WWII changed the Orkney Islands in significant ways. During the war, farmers prospered due to contracts for food to feed the military there. The success of these farms has had a lasting impact on the islands, hence the huge number of cattle being raised.
- There are two whisky distilleries in the Orkneys, one called Scapa that is located on the shore of Scapa Flow. The second one we pass by, called Highland Park. She tells us that the Orkney Islands have the smallest mean temperature deviation (5 degrees C. average low in winter; 20 degrees Celsius average high in summer) in the British Isles. This consistency in temperature is great for making whisky.
We arrive at the dock right at 1:00pm, and Helen invites us to walk around Kirkwall. She adds that it is important to remember why the flags are flying at half staff due to the Death of Queen Elizabeth, and we just need to remember that it is a time of sorrow for Orkadians and act accordingly.
Cathy and I are tired, and opt to take the tender back to the ship. Back in the stateroom we find a letter from Oceania Destination Services. Not surprisingly, all excursions in Edinburgh, our next port of call, are canceled. In fact, instead of docking in Leith as scheduled, we will dock in Rosyth, a commercial/industrial port. This is so that security forces and other British military can dock at Leith.
Queen Elizabeth died at Balmoral Castle near Aberdeen, Scotland. She is being transported by hearse in a motor cortege to Edinburgh, where she will lie in state for twenty-four hours. Security will be heavy, and so will traffic. At this point, Oceania has no idea if they can arrange any transportation into the city from Rosyth under the unique circumstances in which we find ourselves. All of this is completely understandable. We find ourselves becoming more and more drawn in to what is happening in Great Britain.
Our day continues quietly. Lunch at Waves Grill. Spa appointments to use up our “spa credits.” Dinner in the Grand Dining Room. Our television is tuned exclusively to the BBC. Inadvertently, we are in the very place where history is being made.
