Orkney Riddler

 From:- The Orkneys in Early Celtic Times, Two Lectures, by James M. Macbeath, published by William Peace and Son, in 1892. Page 18 Cesar informs us that at the time of his landing in the south of Britain 50BC "the interior of island was quite uncultivated , that there they never sowed their lands, but followed the occupation of the hunter and the shepherd, and went clad in the skins and lived on the flesh and milk of their flocks and herds, and spoils of the chase" More about the migration of neolithic people to Orkney, in the Orkney Riddle   #neolithic #prehistory #archaeology #Orkney #Scotland #Brodgar #skarabrae 

 From:- The Orkneys in Early Celtic Times, Two Lectures, by James M. Macbeath, published by William Peace and Son, in 1892. Page 15 It should be born in mind that in the burials of the second stone age - the neolithic or Surface stone age - the body was either placed in a contracted position, or in a sitting posture, or burnt, but very rarely extended to its full length: sometimes the knees were drawn up to the breast, and rare instances would seem to suggest that the bones had been broken, when the body could not otherwise be disposed of within the straitened dimensions which custom had prescribed for these primitive tombs. The people of that age were probably warriors of the type prevailing for centuries, whose creed was that to die in bed was to die dishonored: thus was the warrior placed in his grave in a position enabling him readily to sprung up when the sound of the war-cry should summon him to join his comrades and renew the strife. More about the migration of neolithic ...

  Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn   Tomb of the dogs    (Photo:- orkneyology.com) Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn is a relatively accessible Cairn on mainland Orkney.  It is accessible from the back  road that runs from Finstown to Kirkwall. The climbing walk takes you through an area where several small occupation structures have been excavated, Stonehall Knoll, Meadow and Farm, and just short of the top of the hill is the mound of the Cairn. The view from here is of Wideford Hill and the Stronsay/Westray Firths with Shapinsay and other northern islands off in the distance. It is quite sheltered from the persistent southwestern winds, and even now more trees seem to survive here than there are in more exposed parts of the archipelago.  The Cairn was excavated by M. M. Charleson in 1902, and the report that he wrote was published in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries as:- Notice of a Chambered Cairn in the Parish of Firth, Orkney. By M. M. Charleson...

  From:- The Orkneys in Early Celtic Times, Two Lectures, by James M. Macbeath, published by William Peace and Son, in 1892. Page 9 "When our celtic ancestors came first to these islands, and for centuries thereafter , there is reason to believe that the lower lying grounds were thickly covered with wood , in which mountain ash, birch, pine , and Hazel largely predominated and other species have been found embedded in peat mosses with the bark still fresh and entire. These would form a covert for the wild boar, red deer, reindeer, and other animals then native to the group, as well as fuel and shelter to the early settlers, who were little if at all removed from the condition of homeless roaming savages, living chiefly by their success in the chase and fishing; making rude and primitive garments and tools of the spoils of these, and having the roughest and rudest weapons made from wood, bone, and stone, with apparently very little, if any kind of knowledge of the working in meta...

From:- The Orkneys in Early Celtic Times, Two Lectures, by James M. Macbeath, published by William Peace and Son, in 1892. Page 5 The traveller who first made known to the inhabitants of Europe generally the existence of the British Isles was the eminent mathematician Pythaeus, the contemporary of aristotle and Alexander the great.  Pythaeus of Marseilles landed on the shores of Britain, probably Kent, in the early summer of the year 330BC. He traversed considerable portions of the country and found that while inland consisted chiefly of forest and marsh , with pasture here and there for sheep and cattle in the open spaces through the woods, the natives, who were numerous, grew wheat only in narrow strips along the seaboard opposite Gaul, which they "thrashed in barns, as owing to the little sunshine and much rain it could not be done in open fields."  When travelling northward however he found that corn could not be grown owing to the naturally backward condition of the co...

The Vole at Skara Brae   There follows edited extracts from a research document about the bones of rodents that were found at Skara Brae.  It details the volumes of vole and mice bones found in midden materials,  both inside and outside the monument, drawing conclusions about the possible utilisation of the vole as a food item. The report is :- Rodents: food or pests in Neolithic Orkney, by  Andrzej A. Romaniuk, Alexandra N. Shepherd, David V. Clarke,  Alison J. Sheridan,  Sheena Fraser, László Bartosiewicz, and Jeremy S. Herman. The Orkney archipelago, situated to the north of the British mainland, is renowned for its outstanding collection of Neolithic sites, a core group of which have been recognized with World Heritage status. Among the wealth of material recovered from the Orcadian Neolithic sites are copious rodent remains from two settlements, one the celebrated site of Skara Brae, and the other Links of Noltland, Westray.  These remains are fro...