<< County Introductions >> County Guides No.17 - Orkney
Submitted by howar on Saturday, 28 February 2004 Page Views: 4780
Neolithic and Bronze AgeCountry: Scotland County: OrkneyInternal Links:
There are many islands apart from Mainland, including the chambered tomb 'mecca' of Rousay. Public transport is rather patchy and irregular even on Mainland in summer, so unless you have a car a fair bit of rambling is required.
The Orkney Isles were first inhabited in the Mesolithic but rising sea levels have left us scant remains from this period. In the Neolithic came the stone circles and the great chambered tombs. From the Iron Age we have the many broch remains around our coasts e.g. Broch of Gurness. Literary evidence of Roman exploration on land is sparse and much disputed. After the Picts came the Viking settlements (eg Gurness again), with this being one of the few agreed instances where one population replaced another, though this is the exception that proves the rule as Pict Orcadians had died out just previous to the first Norse intrusions.
It may be the early wood clearances that lead to the survival of so many sites. The only native woodland is on island of Hoy (where there is the massive rock-cut tomb ‘The Dwarfie Stane’). For the visitor, and even many islanders, a big problem is simply how many places have the same name or slight variants, plus names being on the map but unidentified on the ground and vice versa. With so many sites in very close proximity and identically named it can help to use CANMAP on the RCAHMS website for finding every site that exists.
We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.