Product Description
Skara Brae Neolithic Village Maximum CardStamp: Skara Brae 1st class issued 17 January 2017
Card: N524, Hut 1, The Workshop Skara Brae, Charles Tait
Postmark: Ancient Britain Skara Brae, Stomness
LOCATION: Bay of Skaill, Orkney Islands, Scotland
An example of an extremely early settlement is Skara Brae on Orkney. Unlike in many other parts of the UK, by the third millennium BC there were few trees on Orkney and stone was therefore the building material of choice (which of course can survive for millennia). Today 8 recognisable houses remain, the earliest dating from around 3200BC. Fashioned in stone are beds, shelves and storage containers, around a central hearth. Prominent in each home is a dresser made of flagstones. The inhabitants used beautifully decorated Grooved Ware pottery and had a rich material culture of worked stone and bone. Their diet was based on domesticated crops, wild plants, fish, seabirds and the products from sheep, goats, pigs and cattle. Skara Brae is part of the 'Heart of Neolithic Orkney' UNESCO World Heritage Site.