The Secrets of Orkney’s Ancient (5,000-Year-Old) Structures Revealed: Standing Stones to Circles
Channel: Celtic History Decoded
Date: 2022-07-12

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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:07 The Ring of Brodgar 
1:12 The Stones of Stenness
2:19 Maeshowe 
3:29 Skara Brae 
4:32 Support 

The Secrets of Orkney’s Ancient (5,000-Year-Old) Structures Revealed: Standing Stones to Circles 

Orkney is a treasure-trove of mysterious and fascinating ancient structures from the Neolithic period. The first ancient marvel we will focus on is The Ring of Brodgar, a stone circle located on the largest island of Orkney, Mainland. The structure is thought to have been constructed between 2500 and 2000BC, over 4,000 years ago. It is the only stone circle in Britain that is almost a perfect circle, stretching 104 metres wide, surrounded by a rock cut ditch. It originally contained 60 megaliths, but only 27 of these stones remain today. 

It’s the third largest stone circle in the British Isles today, behind Avebury’s stone circle in Wiltshire, England, and the Stanton Drew stone circles in Sommerset. You can only imagine the sense of awe The Ring of Brodgar must have inspired amongst the people of ancient Orkney. Needless to say, the Ring of Brodgar probably played a significant astrological (perhaps tracking the Lunar cycle, religious and ceremonial role in Neolithic Orkney, serving as a footprint of the gods. 

The second structure I want to focus on is the Stones of Stenness circle and henge, perhaps the oldest henge in the British Isles. The site is around 5,000 years old, constructed between 3100 – 2900 BC, most likely older than Stonehenge which was constructed between 3000 BC and 2000 BC. The Stones of Stenness originally was a circle of 12 large upright standing stones which were up to 6m in height. Today, four of these stones remain. 
As for its purpose, Historic Environment Scotland states that “our best guess is that they were involved in activities and ceremonies celebrating the relationship between living and past communities.” Excavations have shown that our Neolithic ancestors ate and cooked food at the site. 

The third structure we are going to look at is the Maeshowe Chambered Cairn built around 2800BC on Mainland Orkney. It is a  Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave, with its name having a partially Norse origin as ‘howe’ comes from the Old Norse for ‘hill’. Maeshowe has similarities to the famous Newgrange tomb in Ireland (which I have a made a video on before), potentially suggesting a link between the two cultures. Similar to Newgrange, Maeshowe is astrologically aligned.

Sources:

Heart of Neolithic Orkney, Historic Environment Scotland - https://www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support/listing-scheduling-and-designations/world-heritage-sites/heart-of-neolithic-orkney/ 

RING OF BRODGAR, Visit Scotland https://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/ring-of-brodgar-p669061
 
Discover Skara Brae – Orkney’s Prehistoric Village, Visit Scotland https://www.visitscotland.com/see-do/unique-experiences-map/discovering-an-ancient-village/ 

Stones of Stenness Circle and Henge, Historic Environment Scotland - https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/stones-of-stenness-circle-and-henge/history/ 

SKARA BRAE FACTS! National Geographic - https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/history/general-history/skara-brae/ 

Creative Commons Imagery:

Detmar Owen https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avebury_aerial.jpg  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en 

Rodw https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stanton_Drew_stone_circle_23.JPG Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en 

Fantoman400 (talk) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Standing_Stones_of_Stenness.jpg Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Standing_Stones_of_Stenness.jpg 

Maeshowe, 2007 (aerial) by Chris https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maeshowe,_2007_(aerial)_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3149274.jpg Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en 

Scottish Government Orkney Cabinet - Maeshowe - Scottish Ten animation https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Orkney_Cabinet_-_Maeshowe_-_Scottish_Ten_animation_(7883530318).jpg Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en 

#orkney #stonecircle #ancientmysteries