Today we did a lot of outdoor activities, and the weather cooperated beautifully. It was milder than yesterday, and not windy. Partly cloudy, partly lovely sunshine, and the rain held off until we were back at our B&B in the late afternoon.
Our first stop was Yesnaby, on the west coast of Orkney Mainland. It’s a wild place, with waves crashing against the cliffs below. We walked along the coastal trail, marvelling at the geological features and boiling sea.
We both agreed that the walk would have been impossible yesterday, with the strong winds we had. Fred has done an amazing job of researching, organizing, and timing our activities.
Next we went to Skara Brae, Europe’s most complete Neolithic village. In fact, it has UNESCO World Heritage Site status. It is older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids.
The site consists of eight clustered houses, and was occupied from roughly 3180 BC to about 2500 BC. They have recreated house #7 as it would have looked back then, and you can actually go inside and walk around it. The average house was 430 square feet — not much smaller than a new Vancouver condo. All had the same design.
We were amazed at how organized these people were. Storage shelves are actually built into the walls (this made Ruth think it must have been designed by women). The dwellings contain a number of stone-built pieces of furniture, including cupboards, dressers, seats, and storage boxes. Each dwelling had a central fire pit, and stone beds around the walls that would have probably been filled with some soft plant matter and covered with animal skins for warmth. The people had tools, made and decorated clay pots, and even made jewelry. But after 600 years, they abandoned the settlement. No one knows why.
We had tea and treats in the visitor centre café, then Fred bought me a beautiful locally designed bracelet that I had admired in the gift shop.
After Skara Brae, we visited the Broch of Birsay. We timed our visit to coincide with low tide, as this uninhabited tidal island is only accessible when the tide is out. Walking along the causeway while enormous waves are crashing just a few hundred yards away is a little unnerving.
On the island, there are the ruins of a Norse settlement and church, which overlay the earlier Pictish settlement. Before Kirkwall became the centre of power in the 12th century, Birsay was the seat of the earls of Orkney.
There’s also an interesting Pictish artifact — a stone slab showing three human figures and some Pictish symbols. Like all Pictish inscriptions, its meaning is unknown.
We walked up onto the island, past the 19th century lighthouse, and along the west edge. The waves and cliffs are fantastic to see, and we took a lot of photos. There’s no fence or barrier of any kind; we both noted that such a place in Canada would be well fenced to keep people safe. One is reminded of the old joke about taking a photo of someone and saying, “Take a step back…another step back…just one more…”
Next, we visited the Ring of Brodgar — a Neolithic henge and stone circle, located in a wide empty space next to a quiet lake. Strolling around it put us in a contemplative mood, thinking about the people who put it there so long ago, and wondering what they were like.
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