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History Of Orkney
Humans have inhabited Orkney, an archipelago in the north of Scotland, for about 8,800 years: Archeological evidence dates from Mesolithic times. Scandinavian clans dominated the area from the 8th century CE, using the islands as a base for further incursions. In the late 14th century the archipelago became part of Scotland. Prehistoric Orkney As with Prehistoric Scotland generally, hunter gatherers followed the slow retreat of ice age glaciation. The rapid spread of Neolithic culture up the western seaways soon brought early farming settlements and Megalithic culture. The prevalent use of the local sandstone, found ready split into convenient building slabs on the shore, preserved numerous structures from this period, including prehistoric villages, brochs, souterrain structures, chambered cairns and standing stones. The oldest stone house still standing in northern Europe (occupied from 3500 BC to 3100 BC) is at Knap of Howar on the island of Papa Westray, with walls intact ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orkney
Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north of the coast of Caithness and has about 70 islands, of which 20 are inhabited. The largest island, the Mainland, Orkney, Mainland, has an area of , making it the List of islands of Scotland, sixth-largest Scottish island and the List of islands of the British Isles, tenth-largest island in the British Isles. Orkney’s largest settlement, and also its administrative centre, is Kirkwall. Orkney is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland, council areas of Scotland, as well as a Orkney (Scottish Parliament constituency), constituency of the Scottish Parliament, a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area, and an counties of Scotland, historic county. The local council is Orkney Islands Council, one of only three councils in Scotland with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knap Of Howar
The Knap of Howar () on the island of Papa Westray in Orkney, Scotland is a Neolithic farmstead which may be the oldest preserved stone house in northern Europe. Radiocarbon dating shows that it was occupied from 3700 BC to 2800 BC, earlier than the similar houses in the settlement at Skara Brae on the Orkney Mainland. The site The farmstead consists of two adjacent rounded rectangular thick-walled stone buildings with very low doorways facing the sea. The larger and older structure is linked by a low passageway to the other building, which has been interpreted as a workshop or a second house. They were constructed on an earlier midden, and were surrounded by midden material which has protected them. There are no windows; the structures were presumably lit by fire, with a hole in the roof to let out smoke. Though they now stand close to the shore, they would have originally lain inland. The shore shows how the local stone splits into thin slabs, giving a ready source of constr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burroughston Broch
Burroughston Broch is an Iron Age broch located on the island of Shapinsay in the Orkney Islands, in Scotland (). The site overlooks the North Sea on the northeast part of Shapinsay. Excavated in the mid 19th century, Burroughston Broch is still well-preserved. The drystone walls are up to four metres thick in some parts and there is a complete chamber intact off the entrance passage. Some remains of stone fittings are evident in the interior. Location Burroughston Broch overlooks the North Sea at the northeast corner of Shapinsay island, about 4 miles from the ferry pier. Slightly to the south lies Linton Bay. The broch stands at the foot of a gently sloping field just above the low rocky shoreline. It is one of the best preserved brochs in Orkney. Description The walls of Burroughston Broch have an external diameter of around 18 metres, and an internal diameter of around 10 metres. From the outside, the building appears as a grassy mound, and little of the outer wall is exposed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barnhouse Settlement
The Neolithic Barnhouse Settlement is sited by the shore of Loch of Harray, Orkney Mainland, Scotland, not far from the Standing Stones of Stenness, about 5 miles north-east of Stromness. It was discovered in 1984 by Colin Richards. Excavations were conducted between 1986 and 1991, over time revealing the base courses of at least 15 houses. The houses have similarities to those of the early phase of the better-known settlement at Skara Brae in that they have central hearths, beds built against the walls and stone dressers, and internal drains, but differ in that the houses seem to have been free-standing. The settlement dates back to circa 3000 BC. Pottery of the grooved ware type was found, as at the Stones of Stenness and Skara Brae. Flint and stone tools were found, as well as a piece of pitchstone thought to have come from the Isle of Arran. The largest of the original buildings was ''House 2''. It was double-sized, featuring a higher building standard than the other house ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Thom
Alexander Thom (26 March 1894 – 7 November 1985) was a Scottish engineer most famous for his theory of the Megalithic yard, categorisation of stone circles and his studies of Stonehenge and other archaeological sites. Life and work Early life and education Thom was born in Carradale in 1894 to Archibald Thom, a tenant farmer at ''Mains farm'' for Carradale House, and his wife Lily Stevenson Strang from the family of Robert Louis Stevenson. Her mother (Thom's grandmother) belonged to a large family from Symington, upon whom had been bestowed the land by Robert the Bruce. His father trained the Church choir while his mother was pianist. Thom spent his early years at Mains farm until moving to ''The Hill'' farm at Dunlop, Ayrshire. Instilled with a good work ethic by his father, Thom taught himself industrial engineering and entered college in Glasgow in 1911 where he studied alongside John Logie Baird. In 1912 he attended summer school at Loch Eck where he was trained in s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ring Of Brodgar
The Ring of Brodgar (or Brogar, or Ring o' Brodgar) is a Neolithic henge and stone circle about 6 miles north-east of Stromness on Mainland, the largest island in Orkney, Scotland. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Heart of Neolithic Orkney. General information 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 th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Passage Grave
A passage grave or passage tomb consists of one or more burial chambers covered in earth or with stone, and having a narrow access passage made of large stones. These structures usually date from the Neolithic Age, and are found largely in Western Europe. When covered in earth, a passage grave is a type of burial mound which are found in various forms all over the world. When a passage grave is covered in stone, it is a type of cairn. Construction and design The building of passage graves was normally carried out with megaliths along with smaller stones. The earliest passage tombs seem to take the form of small dolmens, although not all dolmens are passage graves. The passage itself, in a number of notable instances, is aligned in such a way that the sun shines through the passage, into the chamber, at a significant point in the year, often at sunrise on the winter solstice or at sunset on the equinox. Many later passage tombs were constructed at the tops of hills or mountains, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maeshowe
Maeshowe (or Maes Howe; non, Orkhaugr) is a Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave situated on Mainland Orkney, Scotland. It was probably built around . In the archaeology of Scotland, it gives its name to the Maeshowe type of chambered cairn, which is limited to Orkney. Maeshowe is a significant example of Neolithic craftsmanship and is, in the words of the archaeologist Stuart Piggott, "a superlative monument that by its originality of execution is lifted out of its class into a unique position." Maeshowe is a scheduled monument and is part of the "Heart of Neolithic Orkney", a group of sites including Skara Brae, which were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. Design and construction Maeshowe is one of the largest tombs in Orkney; the mound encasing the tomb is in diameter and rises to a height of Surrounding the mound, at a distance of to is a ditch up to wide. The grass mound hides a complex of passages and chambers built of carefully crafted slabs of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Standing Stones Of Stenness
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 site in the British Isles. Various traditions associated with the stones survived into the modern era and they form part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site. They are looked after by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument. Layout and location 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 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 to the east ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grooved Ware People
Grooved ware is the name given to a pottery style of the British Neolithic. Its manufacturers are sometimes known as the Grooved ware people. Unlike the later Beaker ware, Grooved culture was not an import from the continent but seems to have developed in Orkney, early in the 3rd millennium BC, and was soon adopted in Britain and Ireland.Richard Bradley ''The prehistory of Britain and Ireland,'' Cambridge University Press, 2007, , p. 134. The diagnostic shape for the style is a flat-bottomed pot with straight sides sloping outwards and grooved decoration around the top. Beyond this the pottery comes in many varieties, some with complex geometric decorations others with applique bands added. The latter has led some archaeologists to argue that the style is a skeuomorph and is derived from wicker basketry. Grooved ware pots excavated at Balfarg in Fife have been chemically analysed to determine their contents. It appears that some of the vessels there may have been used to hold bl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2500 BC
The 25th century BC was a century that lasted from the year 2500 BC to 2401 BC. Events * c. 2900–2334 BC: Mesopotamian wars of the Early Dynastic period. * c. 2560 BC: Construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza is completed. * c. 2500 BC: Rice was first introduced to Malaysia * c. 2500 BC: Scribal schools flourish throughout Sumer. * c. 2500 BC: Assyria is established. * c. 2500 BC: Cylinder seal from Sumer and its impression are made. It is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. * c. 2500 BC: Excavation and development of the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni at Paola, Malta, a subterranean temple complex subsequently used as a necropolis. * c. 2500 BC: The Pyramid of Khafre, Giza, is built. * c. 2500 BC: The sculpture Khafre Enthroned is made. * c. 2500 BC: People in Peru rely on fish and mussels for food. *c. 2500 BC: Evidence of long-distance trade routes in South America. * c. 2500 BC: Skara Brae is abandoned after approximately 600 years of occupation. * c. 2500–225 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3000 BC
The 30th century BC was a century that lasted from the year 3000 BC to 2901 BC. Events * Before 3000 BC: An image of a deity (detail from a cong) recovered from Tomb 12 in Fanshan, Yuyao, Zhejiang, is made during the Neolithic period by the Liangzhu culture. It is now kept at Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Hangzhou. *c. 3000 BC - Earliest remains from Aniba (Nubia). * c. 3000 BC: Early agriculture in North Africa. * c. 3300 BC – 2600 BC: Early Harappan period continues in the Indus Valley. * c. 3000 BC: Camels are domesticated in Egypt. * c. 3000 BC: There is an intense phase of burial at on the Hill of Tara, the ancient seat of the High King of Ireland. * c. 3000 BC: Stonehenge begins to be built. In its first version, it consists of a circular ditch and bank, with 56 wooden posts. * c. 3000 BC: Cycladic civilization in the Aegean Sea starts. * c. 3000 BC: Helladic period starts. * c. 3000 BC: Aegean Bronze Age starts. * c. 3000 BC: Austronesian expansion begins. * c. 3000 BC: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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