Editing Skara Brae (section)

==Artefacts==
[[File:Skara Brae symbols1.jpg|thumb|right|Symbols found at Skara Brae and other Neolithic sites]]
A number of enigmatic [[carved stone balls]] have been found at the site and some are on display in the museum.<ref name="Carved Balls">{{Cite web | url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=147 | title=Carved-Stone Balls at Skara Brae | access-date=2011-11-03}}</ref> Similar objects have been found throughout northern Scotland. The spiral ornamentation on some of these "balls" has been stylistically linked to objects found in the [[River Boyne|Boyne Valley]] in Ireland.<ref>{{harvnb|Laing|1982|p=137}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Piggott|1954|p=329}}</ref> Similar symbols have been found carved into stone lintels and bed posts.<ref name="Childe 1931"/> These symbols, sometimes referred to as "runic writings", have been subjected to controversial translations. For example, author Rodney Castleden suggested that "colons" found punctuating vertical and diagonal symbols may represent separations between words.<ref>{{harvnb|Castleden|1987|p=253}}</ref>

Lumps of red [[ochre]] found here and at other [[Neolithic]] sites have been interpreted as evidence that [[body painting]] may have been practised.<ref>{{harvnb|Burl|1976|p=87}}</ref> 

Nodules of [[Hematite|haematite]] with polished surfaces have been found as well; the shiny surfaces suggest that the nodules were used to finish leather.<ref>{{harvnb|Ritchie|1995|p=18}}</ref>

Other artefacts excavated on site made of animal, fish, bird, and [[whalebone]], whale and [[walrus ivory]], and [[orca]] teeth included [[bradawl|awl]]s, needles, knives, [[bead]]s, [[adze]]s, [[shovel]]s, small bowls and, remarkably, ivory pins up to {{convert|25|cm|in}} long.<ref>{{harvnb|Clarke|Sharples|1985|pp=78–81}}</ref> These pins are similar to examples found in [[passage grave]]s in the Boyne Valley, another piece of evidence suggesting a linkage between the two cultures.<ref>{{harvnb|Ritchie|1981|p=41 }}</ref> The eponymous ''Skaill knife'' was a commonly used tool in Skara Brae; it consists of a large stone flake, with a sharp edge used for cutting, knocked off a sandstone cobble.<ref>{{harvnb|Ritchie|1995|p=16}}</ref> This neolithic tool is named after Skara Brae's location in the [[Bay of Skaill]] on [[Orkney]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Skaill knife |website=[[Historic Scotland]] |url=http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/skaraobjects.pdf |access-date=21 March 2007}}</ref> Skaill knives have been found throughout Orkney and [[Shetland]].

The 1972 excavations reached layers that had remained waterlogged and had preserved items that otherwise would have been destroyed. These include a twisted skein of heather, one of a very few known examples of Neolithic rope,<ref>{{harvnb|Burl|1979|p=144}}</ref> and a wooden handle.<ref>{{harvnb|Hedges|1984|p=215}}</ref>

In 2016, a carved whalebone figurine dubbed 'Skara Brae Buddo' was rediscovered in a box at [[Stromness Museum]]. Thought to be 5,000 years old, the artefact has four holes, in similar positioning to eyes, a mouth and a navel. The figurine was only known about because of a sketch recorded by antiquarian [[George Petrie (antiquarian)|George Petrie]] in the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=News - Rare Skara Brae Figurine Rediscovered in Scotland - Archaeology Magazine |url=https://archaeology.org/news/2016/06/15/160615-skara-brae-buddo/}}</ref>