Editing Skara Brae (section)

==Neolithic lifestyle==
The inhabitants of Skara Brae were makers and users of [[grooved ware]], a distinctive style of [[pottery]] that had recently appeared in northern Scotland.<ref>{{harvnb|Darvill|1987|p=85}}</ref> The houses used [[earth sheltering]]: built sunk in the ground, into mounds of prehistoric domestic waste known as [[midden]]s.  This provided the houses with stability and also acted as insulation against Orkney's harsh winter climate. On average, each house measures {{convert|40|m2|ft2}} 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Hedges|1984|p=107}}</ref>

It is not clear what material the inhabitants burned in their [[hearth]]s. Childe was sure that the fuel was [[peat]],<ref name="Childe 1931">{{harvnb|Childe|1931}}</ref> but a detailed analysis of vegetation patterns and trends suggests 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Keatinge|Dickson|1979}}</ref> Other possible fuels include [[driftwood]] and [[Dry dung fuel|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" which may be residual burnt seaweed.<ref>{{harvnb|Fenton|1978|pp=206–209}}</ref>

The dwellings contain several stone-built pieces of furniture, including [[cupboard]]s, [[Welsh dresser|dresser]]s, seats, and storage boxes. Each dwelling was entered through a low doorway with a stone slab door which could be shut "by a bar made of bone that slid in bar-holes cut in the stone door jambs."<ref>{{harvnb|Childe|Simpson|1952|p=21}}</ref> Several 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 toilets.<ref name="Pre">{{cite journal |last1=Childe |first1=V. |last2=Paterson |first2=J. |last3=Thomas |first3=Bryce |title=Provisional Report on the Excavations at Skara Brae, and Finds from the 1927 and 1928 Campaigns. With a Report on Bones |journal=Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland |date=30 Nov 1929 |volume=63 |pages=225–280 |doi=10.9750/PSAS.063.225.280 |s2cid=182466398 |url=http://journals.socantscot.org/index.php/psas/article/view/7758/7726 |access-date=6 May 2020|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Suddath |first1=Claire |title=A Brief History of Toilets |url=http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1940525,00.html |access-date=6 May 2020 |agency=Time |publisher=Time |date=19 Nov 2009}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Mark |first1=Joshua J. |title=Skara Brae |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Skara_Brae/ |encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]] |access-date=6 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grant, F.S.A.ScoT. |first1=Walter G. |last2=Childe, F.S.A.ScoT. |first2=V. G. |title=A STONE-AGE SETTLEMENT AT THE BRAES OF RINYO, ROUSAY, ORKNEY. (FIRST REPORT.)|journal=Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland |date=1938 |volume=72 |url=http://soas.is.ed.ac.uk/index.php/psas/article/download/8098/8066 |access-date=6 May 2020}}</ref>

Seven of the houses have similar furniture, with the beds and dressers in the same places in each house. The dresser stands against the wall opposite the door and is the first thing seen by anyone entering the dwelling. Each of these houses had a larger bed on the right side of the doorway and a smaller one on the left. [[Lloyd Laing (archaeologist)|Lloyd Laing]] noted that this pattern accorded with [[Hebridean]] custom up to the early 20th century suggesting that the husband's bed was the larger and the wife's was the smaller.<ref>{{harvnb|Laing|1974|p=61}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Ritchie|1995|p=32}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Childe|Clarke|1983|p=9}}</ref>
[[File:Skara Brae house 1 5.jpg|thumb|right|Evidence of home furnishings]]

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 House 8 may have been used to make tools such as bone needles or [[flint axe]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|Beck|Black|Krieger|Naylor|1999}}</ref> The presence of heat-damaged volcanic rocks, and what appears to be a [[flue]], supports this interpretation. House 8 is distinctive in other ways as well: it is a stand-alone structure not surrounded by midden;<ref>{{harvnb|Clarke|Sharples|1985|p=66}}</ref> instead it is above ground with walls over {{convert|2|m|ft}} thick and has a "porch" protecting the entrance.

The site provided the earliest known record of the [[human flea|human flea (''Pulex irritans'')]] in Europe.<ref>{{harvnb|Buckland|Sadler|2003}}</ref>

The [[Grooved ware|Grooved Ware People]] who built Skara Brae were primarily [[pastoralism|pastoralists]] who raised cattle, pigs and sheep.<ref name="Childe 1931"/> Childe originally believed that the inhabitants did not farm, but excavations in 1972 unearthed seed grains from a midden suggesting that [[barley]] was cultivated.<ref>{{harvnb|Laing|1974|p=54}}</ref> Fish bones and shells are common in the midden indicating that dwellers ate seafood. Limpet shells are standard and may have been fish bait that was kept in stone boxes in the homes.<ref>{{harvnb|Childe|Clarke|1983|p=10}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{harvnb|MacKie|1977}}</ref> Graham and Anna Ritchie cast doubt on this interpretation noting there is no archaeological evidence for this claim,<ref>{{harvnb|Ritchie|1981|pp=51–52}}</ref> although a Neolithic "low road" that goes from Skara Brae passes near both these sites and ends at the chambered tomb of [[Maeshowe]].<ref>{{harvnb|Castleden|1987|p=117}}</ref> Low roads connect Neolithic ceremonial sites throughout Britain.
[[File:Skara Brae house 7.jpg|thumb|right|View over the settlement, showing covering to house No. 7 and proximity to modern shore line. The glass roof has now been replaced by a turf one, as the humidity and heat caused by the glass roof were hindering preservation.]]