Orkney Riddler

 The Stones of Brodgar  When I went to the Ring of Brodgar today I took a photo of each stone from outside the ditch. I have a theory that the Stones of Brodgar were set in their places with a sloping edge facing in the same relative direction in rotation around the circle. They obviously don't all have an obvious slope on one side. Also at least one of the stones fell over in historic or prehistoric times, and may have been re-erected by Historic Scotland staff. Could they have put them up wrongly? I don't know if my theory works. What do you think? https://orkneyriddler.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-ring-of-brodgar.html Jeffery Nicholls 

  Barnhouse Drains Barnhouse, the Neolithic "Village" on the coast of Harray Loch has about 13 structures, and r unning between the tents and structures are the drains. These are open gullies, channels designed to allow surface water and personal waste to flow away, across the site, and towards Harray Loch.  The Ness of Brodgar, and Skara Brae both have more complex drainage systems designed for more permanent usage. At Barnhouse,  there is a structure literally outside the entrance of Structure 2 , whose perimeter is defined only by the drains that encircle it. In the middle of the drain encirclement is a set of stones on edge that we might assume to be a hearth, because they are set in a square arrangement similar to hearths elsewhere. This arrangement differs though, in that it is the start point for one of the drainage channels that flow out of the site.  The site reports states that there were voids of some sort underneath these stones, and the plan registers a ...

  Barnhouse "Dormitory?" One of the most interesting structures at Barnhouse is Structure 2, which has some affinity with buildings that are found at the Ness of Brodgar.  The design layout excavated suggests that this is a ridged roof structure with a box section of timbers supporting roof timbers at each end with another cross member in the middle position. This divides the interior into two parts ,each containing a hearth. The floor of the hut is otherwise divided by several orthostats, long flat stones laid on age ,seeming to create divisions inside the building. I have been known to be wrong, but my impression is that this layout may have been used as a Dormitory, a hut where half a dozen people would sleep, all together. The structure, being a bit more solid than the huts elsewhere might have been used for longer periods than the lighter weight tents. It seems possible that some people may have inhabited the Neolithic "Village" earlier in spring, and later int...

 Camp Barnhouse     The Barnhouse neolithic "village" contains numerous features  and over half of these are simple circular groups of stones around hearth-like structures.  These are very shallow features, and as there is no abundance of  surface stones, it is likely that the structure they represent was either a tent, a teepee, a bivouac, a bender, or some other light structure easily erected for temporary occupation. Colin Richards, in his reporting of the excavation says that these structures were patched, rebuilt and repaired on a frequent basis during their existence.  Doubtless, rebuilding would have been necessary after any high wind event. No structure with a large surface area, but with little weight,and poor attachment to ground survives an Orkney winter. Hardy these people may have been, but tents like these would have been blown away in any orcadian winter. This means that the inhabitants of the Neolithic Barnhouse, who were present on the...

  Barnhouse and Ritual When I first visited Barnhouse many  years ago I looked at the largest structure, Structure 8, (which i now interpret to be a sweat lodge) and had to interpret the site from the structures that Historic Scotland had created. I remember thinking as I walked around the building, looking at the entrance that this was a place where people had to walk across a hearth in order to get into the place and then that there was another hearth in the middle of the building as well. When I more recently read the report on the excavation and interpreted the plans I discovered that Historic Scotland had, intentionally or not, done a fine job of Disney-fying neolithic Orkney, as if it really needed it! The plans from the excavation clearly show that the entrance to Structure 8 is a small lobby, with a hearth for heating stones on ne side, two entry points from outside, and a passage to the interior of the structure. Nobody had to walk over hot coals to get inside. They w...

Crossing from the Stones of Stenness to the Ring of Brodgar  I remember reading about Stenness Loch and how surveying the floor of the loch suggested that the area had been a mixed terrain, including marshy ground and possibly some neolithic features. The discussion followed with the observation that as sea levels rose the sea water from the North Sea flooded through the Bridge of Waithes. In this way there is a separation between the two lochs where the Harray Loch is fresh water, and the Stenness Loch is salty. As there is a gap, a passage of water,  separating the Brodgar peninsula from the stones of Stenness and Maeshowe location, is it possible that early in the Neolithic period people came to this place and built a dam to block rivers flowing between Harray and Stenness to make it easier to get to the peninsula from Barnhouse, incidentally creating the fresh water lake? Was that breakwater between Stenness and Harray lochs built by neolithic people?