Orkney Riddle Index

 

Orkney Riddle 

Index

This is the southern tip of South Ronaldsay,  close to the Tomb of the Eagles. 

The island offshore is called the Pentland Skerries. It is attached to a shoal of underwater shallow seabed, called the Sandy Riddle.

Hence, the Orkney Riddle. 

Here is the index to the blogs that make up the Orkney Riddle, research that touches the surface to suggest what really happened in the land of the Simmerdim.

 A Bizarre Idea 

Neolithic people walking to Orkney! That's the bizarre idea. 

The Orkney Vole 

It's a bit of a mystery how the vole delivered itself from Belgium to Orkney without passing through England and Scotland. 

 They Must Have Had Boats 

That's what I have been told. Sorry, I don't believe it.

Neolithic Migration to Orkney 

This is a very brief summary of what may have happened in Orkney between 3500BC, and 2500BC.

Pentland Firth 

Crossing the Pentland Firth is exciting on a modern boat. It would be treacherous in any small boat without a motor.

Walkable land in the North Sea 

This is about shallow seas in the Southern North Sea that would have been Walkable land in around 3000BC. ( I think!)

The Swifterbant Culture 

This is about the herdsmen and women of Northern Europe that expanded their territories in Southern Europe, arriving in Belgium in the 5th and 4th millennia BC.

Archaeology in the North Sea 

The present Dogger Bank is the remnant of a ridge of land that extended from Doggerland in the south to a point between Shetland and Norway. This ridge divided the North Sea into the two coastal waters, offshore England/Scotland, and offshore Norway. 

Mainland Settlements 

Lots of small settlements dotted around the islands,  not solid, like Skara Brae, but scrapes in the ground with ashes and seeds, and paved areas.

Barnhouse 

An early encampment with bivouacs and a toilet.

Barnhouse Sweat Lodge 

A sheltered timber structure with a pyramid roof.

 Modern Sweat Lodge Practice 

Interesting to see what the Neolithic Orcadians may have believed  as it is understood today.

Stones of Stenness 

An unfinished stone circle?

The Ring of Brodgar 

Another unfinished stone circle?

 Maeshowe Wonder of the Neolithic World 

A fascinating account of the excavation of the Maeshowe cairn.  Those were the days!

Cairns of Orkney 

More fascinating accounts of the excavation of cairns by early archaeologists.

Dem Bones,  Dem Bones 

The bones in the cairns tell the stories of the Neolithic Orcadians.

Skara Brae,  RCAHMS

The proper description of the Skara Brae Neolithic Village.

Skara Brae Neolithic Village 

Patersons description of Childe's excavation,  in all its' gorey detail 

Dating Skara Brae 

Carbon Dating of the occupation of Skara Brae.

 The Ness of Brodgar Excavation 

Director of Ness of Brodgar excavation, Nick Card's description of the Ness of Brodgar 

Bere Barley Neolithic Grain

About Bere Barley, thought to have been cultivated by neolithic Orcadians. 

Aurochs

Cows thought to have been farmed by neolithic Orcadians. 

Dating the Ness of Brodgar 

Carbon Dating from the Ness of Brodgar 

The Westrays 

What happened on Westray and Papa Westray 

In Conclusion 

Gathering together all the bits of evidence that supports the idea that Orkney was once linked to Scotland. 

 Finally 

If what I say is true,  what does it mean for the Neolithic Britain, a place that was a hub of neolithic culture, but that became isolated from Europe at a critical time in human development. 

Ice Sheet Britain 

An account of the glacial geology that formed much of the geography of the British Isles. 

Quaternary Addendum

I make some outrageous claims about the geography of the North Sea in the Quaternary period. Here,  the detailed remarks, data, and evidence are laid out.

Doggerland 

Extensive results from borings in the Southern North Sea,  between Norfolk and Dogger Bank 

Solving the Riddle 

Describes the process of unravelling the story of Quaternary and neolithic Britain.

About

It's me, no great name, talking about neolithic archaeology. 

Glacial Prehistory 

This is the story, in brief, about the glaciation of Britain. 

Jeffery Nicholls 

South Ronaldsay 

Orkney 

Email jiffynorm@yahoo.co.uk 

#Orkney #archaeology #Neolithic #prehistory #British #SkaraBrae #NessofBrodgar #BIIS ##Britice-Chrono #EarthSciences #LastGlacialMaximum #IceSheets #RelativeSeaLevel #Glaciers

A Bizarre Idea

 

The Orkney Riddle

The Bizarre Idea

This is a view of the Pentland Firth from a settlement called Skarfskerry, on the North Coast of Caithness in Scotland.

The low headland across the water is a neighbouring piece of Scottish coast and beyond that, at the horizon left of view, and almost invisible, is Orkney, an archipelago that sits beyond the northernmost coast of the Scotland.

It is part of the Northern Isles group, and consists of more than 70, mostly low-lying, islands and islets of which only about 20 are inhabited.

Orkney is renowned as the home of a Unesco World Heritage site. The islands were occupied over 5000 years ago by Neolithic people who created a group of settlements and monuments of a complexity and quality not surviving anywhere else in Britain at such an early date.

The Pentland Firth here that separates Scotland from Orkney is a strait of water about 8 miles wide, and is famously dangerous.

The average speed of water running through the Firth can reach 4 nautical miles per hour, and also a peak speed, in places, of 12 nautical miles per hour.

Watching the waters of the Firth from the safety of a capable boat is disconcerting as there are treacherous whirlpools and glassy surfaces where it is hard to imagine what turbulence might be happening beneath the vessel.

Even today with modern craft, the unpredictable nature of the seaway can cause real problems for seafarers.

Skarfskerry, the village where the above photograph is taken from, is a straggling group of dwellings dotted along the North coast of Caithness.

Caithness, the northern most county in Mainland Scotland, is otherwise a bare, some would say barren, landscape.

Here there are very few people, towns are small, and “Civilisation” is miles away.

In prehistory there is little evidence of any greater density of Neolithic population in Caithness than elsewhere in Britain, yet people are thought to have looked across to Orkney in the early years of the spread of farming practices, and decided to make boats and cross the Pentland Firth to establish communities there.

When these people arrived in Orkney they built settlements where they are thought to have farmed domestic animals, including pigs, cattle, and sheep.

Some of these animals are thought to have been domesticated locally, but others, like sheep would have been brought in to Britain by migrants from Europe.

Neither is Orkney the only offshore island that has hosted Neolithic populations around the British coast.

Known sites of occupation are found in Shetland, the Outer Hebrides, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Scilly Isles.

These, and Britain itself, are all places that are presently understood to have been accessed, between themselves and from Europe, by waterborne vessels in early prehistoric times.

The date at which this journeying is calculated to have happened is around 4000BC, a period known as the Early Neolithic, in Britain.

In the absence of actual evidence it is difficult to see how the import of domestic animals across a substantial waterway, like the Pentland Firth or the English Channel, was accomplished, and practicalities are often not discussed.

One of the earliest boats found in Britain is a Neolithic log boat which can be seen sitting in the sand of Grey Abbey Bay in Strangford Lough, Ireland. It is made of oak heartwood, measures 9.1m long by at most 0.89m wide, and would probably carry up to 5 people. A sample of the wood was radiocarbon dated to after 3499BC. (Nationaltrust.org.uk)

Such vessels were clearly being developed in Neolithic times, at least for enclosed areas of water, or for riding, and crossing rivers.

The possibility that a boat like this could cross a piece of water as violent as the Pentland Firth seems unlikely, and the shipping of livestock in it is even more doubtful.

Even now, Orkney is on the edge. It takes a degree of raw determination (and heating) to survive here. High winds and horizontal rain are normal weather conditions for an Orkney winter.

In spite of this, people are thought to have come here, with livestock, on boats, and settled.

*

I could never quite believe that Neolithic people came to Orkney by boat.

As it is thought that they brought cattle and sheep with them, I could not envisage any animal, or any human, surviving a sea crossing of any British tidal waters in any prehistoric vessel.

Standard sources tie themselves in knots to persuade us that Neolithic people had boats that could carry beasts of both sexes that, once landed, would reproduce and help their tribe to survive on the unknown territory across the dangerous waters.

However, evidence has recently emerged that added another dimension to the problem. It was discovered that the Orkney Vole, a species that is unique to the archipelago, had been found by DNA analysis, to originate from northern Europe, and that it was not directly related to the common vole in Britain.

“Much debate surrounds the origins of the Orkney Vole Microtus arvalis orcadensis (Yalden 1999; Corbet 1961). It is the only vole on Orkney and is found on eight islands, while in mainland Britain the field vole (M. Agrestis) is the only Microtus species.

M. Arvalis and M. Agrestis occur widely across continental Europe with overlapping distributions (Mitchell-Jones et al 2003). It is therefore clear that M. Arvalis did not colonise Orkney naturally (Haynes et al 2003; Haynes et al 2004), and although modern consensus supports a human introduction during the Neolithic (Hedges et al 1987), their geographic origin and mechanisms of introduction still remain uncertain. “ (Thomas Cucchi et al)

This meant that the animal that arrived in Orkney did not pass through England, Wales or Scotland.

I tried to imagine a boat leaving Ostend with a Vole somehow stowed away on board, with a prehistoric crew paddling, or sailing, to Kent and stopping there overnight at Dover. They would struggle to travel at night, I thought, and would need to rest, and sleep, as well as hunt for food, and find water. If they had a vole on board they would also have to feed it, and restrain it from escape. They would then set off again up the east coast of England stopping off at Lowestoft to sleep the night in a hastily erected tent, and then take off again at first light in the morning.

I was exhausted just thinking about it.

A vole arriving in Orkney, from Europe, without passing through Britain was a clue that all was not as it seems, and that in spite of the insistence of some that voles may have been carried as pets or food items, another possibility was probably more likely.

I therefore rather assumed that it must be necessary to question what places were passable around the coasts of Neolithic Britain, which areas were land, and which places were water, and when did land areas stop being land.

It is understood that much of the southern North Sea area was land at some point in the past. A piece of shallow sea called Dogger Bank has been named Doggerland as artefacts of 8000 years of age, and older, are frequently dredged up there. The rise in sea level which has occurred since the last ice age has clearly flooded lands here, but which lands, where, and when?

The obvious location, or so I thought, for a route to Orkney from Europe , that would be passable for people, cattle, sheep, and small rodents, on foot, and avoiding England and Scotland, would be somewhere in the middle of the North Sea which, of course, is a bizarre idea.

Indeed, it was such a bizarre idea that I followed it, to see where it took me.

Surely it shouldn’t be too difficult to prove that there was a piece of land, not attached to Britain that joined Dogger Bank to Orkney, in spite of the fact that the area now has seabed at over a 100 metres deep.

It would only take an understanding of the geology of Britain and the North Sea, knowledge of successive glaciations, study of the habits of ice, channel erosion, various dating techniques, and a close inspection of the archaeology of Orkney.

Not so much really, I’m surprised it took so long!

When I started to envisage this idea, that was all it was, an idea. I had nothing but the notion that somehow Doggerland, down in the southern part of the North Sea had once extended northwards to Shetland and Orkney without touching Britain.

I read everything I could find to understand who was where, and when, in prehistoric Britain, and the weight of opinion had it that waves of people came in boats and traded, or brought goods from western France to the western coasts of Neolithic Great Britain. These people bought domesticated animals and the skills to make pottery with them in boats, and every time I suggested in any context that a cow, or a sheep in a boat was not a realistic possibility for Neolithic people I was thoroughly shouted down.

Nobody has found a Neolithic boat that would have crossed the English Channel or the Pentland Firth, but for some people, the existence of such a vessel is an article of faith.

To understand how land was passable, at least by rodents, in the middle of the North Sea, a magical mystery tour had to be taken, beginning in the last ice age.

 Since writing this further research has found that, in fact, the European Vole has actually landed on English soil, as noted in "The Orkney Vole".

All views and opinions expressed are my own, but it remains a work-in-progress for which positive criticism and comment is welcomed.

Jeffery Nicholls 

South Ronaldsay 

Orkney 

The Orkney Riddle (index here)  is a series of blogs promoting the notion that Neolithic people walked from Scotland to Orkney to build the Ring of Brodgar. 

Email jiffynorm@yahoo.co.uk 

#Orkney #archaeology #Neolithic #prehistory #British #SkaraBrae #NessofBrodgar #BIIS ##Britice-Chrono 

Pentland Firth

 

The Orkney Riddle

The Pentland Firth 

The Pentland Firth is the channel of water that separates the Orkney archipelago from Caithness,  the northern most county of Scotland. It is deep, wide, and famously dangerous to cross,  even with modern boats and navigation systems. From the ferry crossing from Caithness to South Ronaldsay interesting surface phenomena indicate what is happening beneath the hull of the boat. Flat shiny areas of water commonly suggest an upwelling mix of currents , while whirlpools imply water being drawn down into the murky deeps.

 

"The Pentland Firth’s eastern approach hosts intricate sediment transport pathways. Time-averaging the modelled flow field revealed the recirculatory nature of the residual flow also reflected by the inferred sediment transport field identified via timeseries bathymetric analysis. 

The Pentland Firth (PF), located between mainland Scotland and Orkney, is an area of the UK continental shelf (UKCS) that experiences extreme tidal flows. These are demonstrated partly by the occurrence of mobile sedimentary bedforms (e.g dunes). 

......... 

Tidal flows of the PF result from a tidal phase difference between the east and west approaches to the channel. A resulting barotropic pressure gradient leads to flow accelerations that locally exceed 5m/s. The extreme tidal setting of the PF’s eastern approach was found to promote distinct bedforms that are spatially varied in geomorphology with distance from the PF. 

......

 The energetic tidal flows of the PF’s eastern approach interact with the highly irregular coastline, generating residual tidal counter currents leeward of flow obstructions. These counter currents (i.e. RTC vortices) are reflected in bedform migrations and thence the sediment transport pathways. As the PF is considered as a bedload parting site (BLP), the RTC vortices are expected to influence the rate of erosion at the BLP, by recirculating sediment back upstream as a counter current inshore of the main flow." (Armstrong)

.....also.....

"Penthland Firth is the name of the treacherous strait between Caithness and the Orkney Islands. It was- and is - a very dangerous area for shipping because it has one of the most powerful tidal currents in the world. This can create tidal swell waves several metres in height. In trhe eastern part of the strait, currents up to 16 knots have been measured.

Areas where the current and the tidal swell are particularly pronounced have been given names such as The Merry Men of May and The Swilkie. The latter also sometimes creates a maelstrom or whirlpool. The name Swilkie has Nordic origins meaning something like “the swallower”. According to a legend, said to date back to Viking times and also known from the Younger Edda, the maelstrom is created by a sea witch rotating the quern that grinds salt for the sea – hence the word maelstrom (mael = grind; strom = current). The Swilkie originates from a point on the small island of Stroma, whose name also has Nordic origins: “Strøm Ø” (Current Island). The place names clearly speak of the dangers of the strait!

Right up to the demise of sailing ships, sailing through the Pentland Firth was avoided if possible. The great ocean-going voyages, for example from Denmark and the Netherlands to the Colonies in the West and East Indies, went far out beyond the Orkney Islands. Since 1822 it has been possible to sail through Scotland via the Caledonian Canal, at least with ships of up to 45 m in length." (Thomsen)

A long feature stretching into the North Sea,  from the Pentland Firth, is the Sandy Riddle. This may be a remnant of a coastal beach that may have joined Caithness to Orkney in the years after the end of the last ice age.

The SandyRiddle is discussed in:- "The geology of the Moray Firth. United Kingdom Offshore Regional Report" By I J Andrews

The largest sand wave in the area, called Sandy Riddle. occurs at the eastern entrance to the Pentland Firth; it may be considered as either a sandbank or a shoal. it is 10 km in length, 1 to 2 km wide, up to 60 m high, and is composed predominantly of sandy gravel (Figure 63). Very strong tidal currents of up to 5.25 m/s occur within the Pentland Firth, but decrease rapidly south-eastwards in the open water to the east of the Pentland Skerries. Over Sandy Riddle, there is a complex pattern of eddies during periods of south-going tidal stream. The sandbank is generally asymmetric in cross-section (Figure 63), with its steep side faring south-west. Sand waves with heights of 10 m and wavelengths of 80 to 200 m are superimposed on the north-eastern flank of the sandbank; these are orientated north-south with their steeper slopes facing west. Megaripples on their backs run parallel or slightly oblique (up to 20°) to their strike, and the steep south-western face of the bank has large megaripples about 0.5 m high. The bank's profile becomes less distinct south-eastwards, and the northern end is piled against the rocky ridge of the Pentland Skerries. Seismic profiles suggest that the bulk of the shoal comprises Holocene sediments. although it is possible that there is a core of glacial material (Allen. 1983)

 

This long, narrow bank extends south-eastwards from the Pentland Skerries between Orkney and the Scottish mainland (Figure 63). Sandy Riddle has a high carbonate content (94%) rich in barnacle fragments (37%) and bivalves (32%), with lesser amounts of serpulids (12%) and bryozoa (10%). The proportion of bryozoan debris increases southwards, inversely to the serpulid distribution. The coarsest material in the north includes a significant proportion of well-rounded pebbles of the local Devonian flagstones. The accumulation rate is 581 g/m2/year.

Sources

"Sediment pathways and bedform mobility: considerations for offshore construction from the Pentland Firth, northeast UK" by Christian Armstrong et al

Mikkel H. Thomsen (www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk)

Jeffery Nicholls 

South Ronaldsay 

Orkney 

The Orkney Riddle (index here) is a series of blogs promoting the notion that Neolithic people walked from Scotland to Orkney to build the Ring of Brodgar. 

Email jiffynorm@yahoo.co.uk 

#Orkney #archaeology #Neolithic #prehistory #British #SkaraBrae #NessofBrodgar #BIIS ##Britice-Chrono 

They Must Have had Boats!

 

The Orkney Riddle

They Must Have Had Boats!

The persistent belief is that Neolithic people had boats. Sheridan (below) and others, have confidently detailed where the maritime trade routes went between Europe and Britain. So, it must be right, mustn't it?

The map of Neolithic trade routes appears in:- "ScARF Summary Neolithic Report June 2012: Kenny Brophy & Alison Sheridan (editors) "

However, the only mention of boats in that report is the following:-

"Much more direct evidence is needed regarding organic artefacts and structures of all kinds: while we can see that organic resources were skilfully used, we only have a tiny snapshot of the full range of materials and uses. For example, we suspect that curragh-like boats had been used to transport the first farmers and their resources to Scotland, and that logboats had been used for onshore and inland water transport, but so far the earliest dated example of a logboat is Early Bronze Age"

There follows the academic understanding of the evidence for water transport around British shorelines from:- "Ships and Boats:Prehistory to 1840 Introductions to Heritage Assets (Historic England)"

"Early Prehistoric (500,000-4000 BC)

Speculation about the development of water transport during the early prehistoric period is widespread, and some commentators have even suggested that the first boat, as opposed to a log ‘raft’, may have simply been a log hollowed out by disease.

It is believed that Palaeolithic watercraft in north-west Europe were most likely limited to the use of log or hide floats and/or rafts in inland waters, particularly as there is no evidence for the waterborne movement of peoples between the British landmass and continental Europe during pre-Holocene interglacial periods (that is, before about 10,000 BC).

Archaeological opinion remains divided as to whether seaworthy vessels would have been available before the Holocene. However, the separation of the British Isles from the north-west European peninsula at the end of the last glacial period, around 12-13,000 years ago, meant that contact across the English Channel and southern North Sea required some form of vessel: multiple-hide boats, perhaps similar to coracles, and basket boats are thought to have been capable of sea voyages at this time.

Although it is probable that dugout canoes were used by Mesolithic peoples as well as log rafts, log boats and bark boats, there is no direct evidence for them in Britain. With the exception of a birch-wood paddle recorded at Star Carr, North Yorkshire, a possible logboat found at Thurlestone, Devon, in the 1920s and a late Mesolithic/early Neolithic burial in a partially burnt dugout canoe found at Parkbury, St. Albans (Hertfordshire) in 1988, physical evidence for vessels in the early prehistoric period remains very scarce.

Late Prehistoric (4000-54 BC) Vessels traversing the western seaways were fundamental to the spread of Neolithic farming, funerary and other systems from the Continent during the early part of the late prehistoric period. In England, Neolithic dugout canoes are only known from Bexley, Greater London (discovered 1885), Jaywick, Essex (discovered 1936), Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire (discovered 1979) and East Rea, Peterborough (also discovered 1979), although it is not known whether these vessels would have been capable of offshore navigation.

However, the most far-reaching innovation in vessel construction at this time was the introduction of plank construction, whereby cut planks were fastened (in most cases, stitched) together to form a watertight hull.

Although the precise date of this innovation is not known, it has been suggested (although no examples have been found) that simple plank boats may have traversed inland waterways during the Neolithic. 

The earliest seagoing stitched boats yet discovered is a collection of three Middle Bronze Age vessels discovered at Ferriby, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, in 1937 and the Dover Boat discovered in 1992, in addition to fragments from the Test Estuary near Southampton and Kilnsea in the Humber region: these are, in fact, the earliest vessels known worldwide.

The Ferriby craft is thought to have been around 16m long while that at Dover has a minimum length of 9.5m. Such vessels were probably too large to navigate in inland waters and, in the absence of smaller plank-built vessels, it is likely that dugout canoes were used inland. 

Two dugouts discovered in northern England (the Chetwynd boat, found in Shropshire in 1981, and the Shardlow boat, found in Derbyshire in 1998) may represent such craft. However, a 12m long flat-bottomed raft was discovered at Brigg, Lincolnshire, in 1888 which was clearly unsuitable for coastal passage having a freeboard (the distance between the waterline and the lowest point of a vessel where water could come onboard) of about only 0.3m.

The quantity of imported material discovered during archaeological investigation on land indicates the amount of cross-Channel trade taking place before the Roman conquest in 43 AD. The proximity of the Dover Boat to the designated Bronze Age artefact assemblage discovered offshore in Langdon Bay, off Kent, suggests crossChannel trade and contact at that time. 

Evidence from other designated underwater assemblages at Salcombe (including the only Bronze Age tin ingots found outside the eastern Mediterranean, and a bronze object from Sicily) and Moor Sands, Devon, presumably represents cargo from ocean going vessels, while finds from off Southend, Hayling Island and Bournemouth are indicative of complex trade routes having been established by the Bronze Age. 

As no evidence for the use of sails at this time has yet been discovered, it is assumed that propulsion was by punting (for rivers) or paddling; it is thought that the Dover Boat could accommodate at least 18 paddlers. A 2m long oak blade discovered at Canewdon, Essex, in 1983 showed no traces of having been used as an oar or steering oar, suggesting its use was most likely as a paddle.

The continued use of plank-built vessels into the Iron Age has not yet been proven. A dugout canoe constructed from a single oak tree but with a fitted transom (the vertical surface forming the stern of a vessel) was discovered in Poole, Dorset, 1964.

Here, the added transom demonstrates a method employed to extend a vessel’s length; now on display in Poole Museum, the vessel is thought to have been capable of carrying up to 18 people. The numerous Iron Age dugouts discovered throughout England in both coastal and inland locations, most recently in 2001 when two 7m-long oak dugouts were found in peat alongside the River Witham at Fiskerton, near Lincoln, suggests their widespread use at this time.

By the late Iron Age ships had evolved in northern Europe, and Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars evidences various ocean-going vessels. Describing fighting on the Atlantic coast in 56 BC, Caesar comments that the Gauls’ ships were rigged differently to Roman ones; that their exceptionally high bows and sterns fitted them for use in heavy seas; while oak hulls allowed them to withstand shock and rough usage. 

Significantly, Caesar remarks that some of these vessels’ timbers comprised beams a foot wide fastened with iron bolts ‘as thick as a man’s thumb.’ Sadly, the remains of such sturdy vessels are not yet known in England despite evidence of cross-Channel trade at places like Hengistbury Head, Dorset, since at least the Neolithic period"

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From National Trust, Northern Ireland:-

A Neolithic log boat at Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland sits where it was abandoned in prehistory in the sands at Greyabbey Bay. It is probably the oldest dated boat in Britain. 

A sample of the wood from this vessel was radiocarbon-dated to between 3,499 and 3,032 BC

*

The Ferriby Boats 

 

From:- New AMS radiocarbon dates for the North Ferriby boats-a contribution to dating prehistoric seafaring in northwestern Europe EDWARD V. WRIGHT, ROBERT E.M. HEDGES, ALEX BAYLISS & ROBERT VAN DE NOORT

"Introduction

The Ferriby boats (F1, F2 and F3) were discovered on the Humber foreshore between 1937 and 1963 (Wright &Wright 1939; Wright 1990; FIGURES1&2).

All three boats have been dated to the Bronze Age and are similar in design: planks are stitched together with yew withies, and systems of cleats with transverse timbers provide structural integrity to the hull, which was perhaps amplified by inserted frames. 

These craft, with other related British finds, constitute an unparalleled series that provides insight into the mechanisms of prehistoric transport. Previously, it was generally assumed that these boats were used predominantly for inland water transport, but a more recent assessment argued that the craft were used for long-distance exchange, including seafaring (Van de Noort et al. 1999). 

Sewn-plank boats are sofar unique to the coastal wafers of England and Wales, sharply contrasting with the distribution of log-boats of prehistoric date which concentrate around inland waterways. No prehistoric sewn-plank craft are known from the Continent, except for the much later Hjortspring canoe from Iron Age Denmark (Rosenberg 1937). 

When F1 and F2 were excavated in 1946, radiocarbon dating had not been discovered, and their conservation preceded the first attempts to date the boats by radiocarbon assay. F3 was discovered in 1963, but conserved without samples being removed for dating. The sample size required for conventional (radiometric) dating meant that uncontaminated short-lived material could not be obtained for each boat. Furthermore, the chemical processing that could be applied was constrained by the limited amount of wood available. The current dating programme was prompted by the concentration of the surviving timbers in Hull and East Riding Museum in the early 199os, facilitating the selection of short-lived samples from each boat for AMS dating. Further impetus to refine the chronology of these finds was provided by the discovery of the examples of sewn-plank boats from Caldicot, Dover, Goldcliff, and Kilnsea (McGrail 1997;Clark forthcoming; Bell et al. 2000;Van de Noort et al. 1999). "

F1; OxA-7457, OxA-9236-7 and OxA-9519-20. 1880-1680calBC

F2; OxA-7458 and OxA-9521-2. 1940-1720calAC

F3; OxA-9198-9 andOxA-9524. 2030-1780calBC

*

A general view of early water transport is given here by yhe National Maritime Museum. It suggests that the earliest boats were built by the Egyptians, who used them to trade with other countries in the Mediterranean Sea. 

Shipbuilding: The earliest vessels (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich)

People have travelled by sea using ships and boats for centuries. The Egyptians, Greeks and Phoenicians made some of the earliest vessels. 

For thousands of years, people have wanted to move on the water. They have used boats and ships to fish, to travel, to explore, to trade or to fight. Throughout the time that people have been building boats and ships, they have made changes to them, to make travelling on the water easier, faster and safer.

The first boats

No one knows exactly when the first boat was invented. Long ago, people probably discovered that they could keep themselves afloat by clinging onto fallen logs or bundles of reed. Gradually, they learnt how to hollow out logs to make rafts.

Egyptian ships

Egyptians were among the earliest ship builders. The oldest pictures of boats that have ever been found are Egyptian, on vases and in graves. These pictures, at least 6000 years old, show long, narrow boats. They were mostly made of papyrus reeds and rowed using paddles. The Egyptians used their ships to trade with other countries around the Mediterranean sea.

Greeks and Phoenicians galleys

Between 1200 and 900 BC, the Greeks and the Phoenicians began to build up their sea trade. They used galleys, both as merchant ships for trading, and as warships. Rowers powered the fighting galleys, sitting in one, two or three lines. The Phoenicians made many long sea journeys, but stayed quite close to the coast. One of the places they sailed to was Cornwall, looking for tin.

Galleys continued to be used as late as the 18th century. The main weapon of the galley was a ram, a pointed piece of wood fixed to the front, or bow of the ship. The ram was crashed at fast speeds into the side of the enemy ship. The galleys also carried archers and men with spears. Sometimes they were fitted with a mast and one square sail, but they were taken down during battles.

*

The following is a discussion from  scienceinsights.org, which examines the relatively calm waters of the Mediterranean Sea. 

Are There Tides in the Mediterranean Sea? (Scienceinsights.org)

November 10, 2025

The Mediterranean Sea, a vast, enclosed body of water bordered by three continents, appears large enough to experience the rhythmic rise and fall of oceanic tides. While the gravitational forces of the Moon and Sun do act upon the water, the resulting astronomical tides are extremely small and often go unnoticed by coastal observers. This minimal tidal activity is a result of geographical and physical constraints, combined with the influence of meteorological conditions that frequently overshadow the tiny astronomical fluctuations.

The Mediterranean’s Minimal Tidal Range

The astronomical tide in the Mediterranean Sea is classified as micro-tidal, meaning the tidal range—the difference between high and low water—is consistently less than two meters. Across much of the basin, the mean tidal range averages only about 30 centimeters, or roughly one foot. These small fluctuations are true gravitational tides, adhering to the predictable cycles dictated by the Sun and Moon. Specific tidal patterns, such as diurnal (one high and one low tide per day) and semi-diurnal (two high and two low tides per day) cycles, are present, though their amplitudes are minute.

The small scale of the Mediterranean tide is apparent in most coastal regions, where the rise and fall rarely exceeds a few centimeters. A few regional exceptions exist where the tidal range can be amplified due to localized bathymetry. For example, the Gulf of Gabes off the coast of Tunisia and certain parts of the northern Adriatic Sea can exhibit a tidal range nearing 1.8 meters, which is a significant outlier. Even in these locations, the tidal range remains modest compared to most open ocean coasts.

Geographic Constraints Suppressing Tides

The primary reason for the Mediterranean’s suppressed tides is its narrow and shallow connection to the Atlantic Ocean: the Strait of Gibraltar. This strait acts as a severe restriction on the massive tidal wave that sweeps across the open Atlantic, physically preventing the gravitational fluctuations from flowing freely into the Mediterranean basin.

The Strait of Gibraltar is only about 14 kilometers wide at its narrowest point and contains a shallow ridge known as the Camarinal Sill. This sill limits the volume of water that can pass back and forth with each tidal cycle. The narrow aperture and shallow depth effectively throttle the flow, preventing the establishment of the large, oscillating tidal wave necessary to generate significant tides within the basin.

The sea’s relatively small size and enclosed shape also inhibit the development of tidal resonance, a mechanism that amplifies tides in some bays and seas. Resonance occurs when the natural period of the water sloshing back and forth within a basin matches the period of the astronomical tide. Because the Mediterranean’s dimensions do not align with the lunar and solar periods, the tidal energy that enters the sea cannot build up into a standing wave large enough to produce substantial tidal ranges.

Non-Tidal Water Level Variationsj

In the Mediterranean, water level fluctuations not caused by astronomical gravity often exceed the actual tide, leading to confusion about the source of sea level changes. These non-tidal variations are primarily meteorological, driven by wind and changes in atmospheric pressure. This means the most noticeable changes in water level are erratic and unpredictable, rather than cyclical and regular like true tides.

Strong, sustained winds pushing water toward a coast can cause a temporary storm surge, significantly raising the water level in a localized area. Conversely, offshore winds can drive water away, causing an abnormally low level. The inverse barometer effect occurs where a drop in atmospheric pressure causes the sea surface to bulge upward, while high pressure pushes it down. A pressure change of just one millibar corresponds to about a one-centimeter change in sea level.

The most dramatic non-tidal fluctuation is the seiche, a standing wave oscillation that sloshes back and forth within a semi-enclosed body of water. Seiches are often triggered by abrupt changes in atmospheric pressure or sudden wind shifts. A famous example is the acqua alta, or high water, that affects Venice in the northern Adriatic Sea. Here, strong winds and low pressure combine with the basin’s natural sloshing period to create water level rises that are far greater than the negligible local gravitational tide.

How Mediterranean Tides Compare Globally

The Mediterranean Sea is a micro-tidal environment, contrasting sharply with macro-tidal regions globally. While the average Mediterranean tidal range is only around 30 centimeters, open ocean environments frequently exhibit tidal ranges measured in meters. The most extreme example is the Bay of Fundy in Canada, where the funnel shape and perfect tidal resonance result in a tidal range that can exceed 16 meters.

This minimal tidal range has a noticeable impact on human activities and the coastal environment. The lack of strong tidal currents simplifies navigation and passage planning for mariners, who do not have to contend with the powerful flows common in macro-tidal straits. The limited vertical movement of the water means coastal infrastructure, such as ports and docks, requires simpler construction compared to facilities built in areas with meters of daily fluctuation. The intertidal area—the space exposed to air between high and low tide—is extremely narrow, supporting a different array of organisms than is found on shores with substantial tidal exposure.

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The Metrological Office of the UK government provide a fair comparison for UK waters relative to the challenges that Egyptian voyagers faced in prehistoric sea travel.

Met Office explains: Why the waters around the UK are unique (UK government Metreological Office)

The waters surrounding the United Kingdom are among the most distinctive marine environments in the world

The waters surrounding the United Kingdom are shaped by a combination of geological history, powerful tidal forces, and complex oceanographic processes.

These factors create a dynamic and productive marine ecosystem that plays a vital role in regional climate, biodiversity, and forecasting. In this blog entry, we'll be looking at just what is it that makes the waters surrounding the UK so unique.

One of the defining features of UK waters is their relative shallowness, a legacy of the last glaciation. This glacial past sculpted a unique seabed geology, which influences everything from water movement to nutrient distribution. Unlike deeper oceanic regions, the shallow nature of UK seas allows for more direct interaction between the seabed and surface waters, enhancing mixing and biological productivity.

A key driver of this mixing is the presence of strong tidal currents, particularly Kelvin waves, which propagate from south to north. These currents stir the water column, preventing the formation of stratified layers, where warmer, lighter water sits atop cooler, denser water, the same way a layer of olive oil floats on water. This constant mixing not only contributes to the UK’s relatively cool summer sea temperatures but also plays a crucial role in shaping the marine environment.

The impact of these tidal currents extends beyond temperature regulation. By disrupting stratification, they reduce the intensity of marine heatwaves, making them less severe but longer-lasting compared to those in more stratified regions. This mixing also affects the distribution of nutrients and light, fostering unique and highly productive ecosystems that support a wide range of marine life.

These dynamic conditions make UK waters a focal point for advanced oceanographic modelling and forecasting. Scientists use coupled ocean-atmosphere models to study how tidal currents influence climate projections. Collaborations with institutions like the Plymouth Marine Laboratory have enabled the development of phytoplankton forecasts, which are essential for monitoring marine health and predicting ecological changes.

These models also incorporate wave activity and its links to marine heatwaves and phytoplankton blooms, offering a comprehensive view of how physical processes drive biological responses. This integrated approach helps scientists better understand and anticipate changes in the marine environment, which is increasingly important in the face of climate change.

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The detailed movement of water around our coasts is described in justtides.co.uk.

What Are Tidal Currents And How Do They Affect Navigation

Tidal currents are powerful, often unseen forces that move vast amounts of water along coastlines. They are driven by the same gravitational forces that cause tides, but while tides refer to the vertical movement of water (rising and falling), tidal currents describe the horizontal movement of water as it flows in and out of coastal areas.

Understanding how tidal currents work is crucial for navigating coastal waters safely and efficiently. 

Tidal currents refer to the horizontal movement of water caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun on Earth's oceans. Unlike tides, which describe the vertical movement of water (rising and falling), tidal currents move water horizontally, flowing into and out of coastal areas, estuaries, and bays.

Tidal currents are strongest near the coast and in narrow waterways where water must squeeze through confined spaces. These currents can significantly affect navigation, fishing, and even coastal erosion, making it important to understand their behavior.

How Do Tidal Currents Form?

Tidal currents form as a result of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun on Earth's oceans, combined with the rotation of the Earth. As water levels rise and fall due to the tides, water flows in and out of coastal areas, creating currents. The strength and direction of these currents are influenced by a variety of factors, including:

Geography: Coastal shape, water depth, and underwater topography can all affect how tidal currents form and flow.

Tidal Range: Areas with large differences between high and low tide levels (tidal range) tend to have stronger tidal currents.

Moon Phases: Tidal currents are stronger during spring tides (new and full moons) when the Earth, moon, and sun are aligned.

As the tide rises, water flows inland, creating flood currents. As the tide falls, water flows back out to sea, creating ebb currents.

Flood currents occur when the tide is rising and water is flowing from the ocean into bays, rivers, and coastal areas. These currents push water inland, filling low-lying areas as the tide rises.

Ebb currents occur when the tide is falling and water is flowing from coastal areas back into the ocean. These currents pull water out to sea as the tide lowers.

Understanding the timing and direction of flood and ebb currents is crucial for anyone navigating coastal waters.

How Tidal Currents Affect Navigation

Tidal currents play a significant role in coastal navigation, affecting boats, ships, and other watercraft. Here are a few ways tidal currents can impact navigation:

Tidal currents can either speed up or slow down vessels depending on their direction relative to the current. For example:

With the Current: If a boat is moving in the same direction as the current, it can travel faster and save fuel.

Against the Current: Traveling against a strong current can slow the vessel down and increase fuel consumption.

Navigators need to account for the speed and direction of tidal currents when planning routes to ensure safe and efficient travel.

Navigating Narrow Waterways

In narrow channels and estuaries, tidal currents can be particularly strong. These currents can make it difficult to navigate safely, especially during spring tides when the currents are at their strongest. Boaters should be aware of these currents and plan to navigate during slack tide (when the tide is turning, and currents are weakest) to avoid being swept off course.

Docking and Anchoring

Strong tidal currents can make docking or anchoring tricky, especially in areas with large tidal ranges. Boats anchored in areas with strong currents may drift if not properly secured, and docking against a strong current can be challenging.

Tidal Currents and Coastal Erosion

Tidal currents can also contribute to coastal erosion, particularly in areas where the current is strong. As water flows in and out with the tide, it can carry sand, sediment, and other materials with it. Over time, this movement can reshape coastlines, erode beaches, and even change the depth of waterways.

Erosion During Flood Currents: As water flows inland, it can erode shorelines and carry sediment further inland.

Erosion During Ebb Currents: As water flows back out to sea, it can carry sand and sediment away from the coastline, contributing to the erosion of beaches and dunes.

In areas with strong tidal currents, coastal erosion can be a significant issue, leading to property damage and loss of land over time.

Conclusion

Tidal currents are a powerful force that affects everything from navigation to fishing and coastal erosion. Understanding how tidal currents work — including the difference between flood and ebb currents — is crucial for anyone spending time on or near the water.

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The following plan illustrates the effects of the erosion of sediments in narrow channels. 

The Pentland Firth,  the Minches channel, the English Channel,  and the North channel of the Irish Sea are all narrow channels experiencing almost continuous high velocity currents, and depleted by the sea currents, of any seabed sediment,  down to bedrock. 

As the shortest crossings between major settlements on the islands of Britain, being visible from island to island in Neolithic Britain would have been a tantalising prospect, but getting in a boat at that time would have been suicidal. 

In summary then,  in the 4th millennium BC there were watercraft of various kinds, operating in Europe.  There were dugout craft operating in lakes and harbours where waterborne conditions were generally calm and easily predictable. There were also much more complex craft in the Mediterranean Sea at that time, which was also remarkably placid, but there is no suggestion that these boats were ever intended to explore the open ocean beyond the Gibraltar Strait. 

Jeffery Nicholls 

South Ronaldsay 

Orkney 

The Orkney Riddle (index here) is a series of blogs promoting the notion that Neolithic people walked from Scotland to Orkney to build the Ring of Brodgar. 

Email jiffynorm@yahoo.co.uk 

#Orkney #archaeology #Neolithic #prehistory #British #SkaraBrae #NessofBrodgar #BIIS ##Britice-Chrono 

Additional reference from

Tide of the Time: Global tidal characteristics observed from in-situ measurements by Michael G. Hart-Davis et al

Map shows that the North Sea and the British Isles have one of the highest tidal ranges in the world. 

Neolithic Migration to Orkney

 

 The Orkney Riddle

The Neolithic Migration to Orkney 

There are a large number of reports, large and small, that have been written following excavation of Neolithic sites on Orkney.  

These reports include plans, sections, find reports, bone reports, dating reports, and any other data investigations that are relevant to the site.  At the end of the report, the findings are discussed, and sone tentative conclusions are drawn. 

In discussing the conclusions that could reasonably be drawn from the data supplied by the work of excavation, many odd features are, very sensibly left in a kind of limbo. Better to conclude nothing than to assert something that no qualifying evidence supports.

Across the mass of evidence derived from the excavations of Neolithic Orkney there are enough of these archaeological peculiarities, that if collected together, they form a pattern.

The pattern does not prove the concept, but it does shift the discussion in different ways.

The following is an outline to demonstrate how the occupation of Orkney by Neolithic migrants may have developed over time.

Nomads

The Neolithic people of Britain were a nomadic group of cultures that entered the country from the Dutch region of northern Europe from before 7000 years ago until after 6000 years ago.

They came on foot, across a land bridge that is now shallow water between Holland and East Anglia, in England. 

These people brought with them a suite of technologies,  including pottery, domesticated animals, landscape structures, economic systems, community activities, timber joinery, structural engineering, and small-scale industries.

They had boats, but these were limited to dugout canoes for use on inland waters, lakes, harbours, and perhaps for crossing rivers.

These were people who had arrived in Northern Europe from the south, gathering in the Scheldt valley. As a group of various peoples we call these the Swifterbant Culture, and it was much later that the various groups included here, having established mobile populations across Britain, arrived in Orkney. 

To Orkney 

The earliest arrivals in Orkney were in 3500BC, and these people built cairns that are believed to have been designed for the housing of the prehistoric people who had died. Their human habitations for the living were mostly light timber structures that may have looked like teepees or bivouacs. With rare exceptions these structures were not designed to endure an Orkney winter. If the winter wind did not dismantle them the ground around them would have rapidly turned to mush from repeated footsteps in Orcadian heavy rainfall.

In spite of their construction of cairns, these people retained their nomadic lifestyle, at least here in Orkney. They would cross from Caithness to South Ronaldsay along a strand made up of geologically soft  ground linking those locations. 

They crossed from Scotland to Orkney every summer, returning to the south when the weather turned. As they crossed, from year to year, the people would have noted that the strand of land linking the two regions was narrowing. Sea levels were rising and coastal beaches were being eroded by strong tides.

At the very end of the 4th millennium BC, before 3000BC, when sea-level wasn't yet high enough to cause concern, the summer solstice, and the Orkney Simmerdim, became an annual event, drawing hundreds of people to settle in temporary campsites around the Harray Loch. 

While they were temporary residents, camping in Orkney, these huge groups built some of the monuments of the Orkney World Heritage Site. These include the Maeshowe Chambered Cairn, the Stones of Stenness, the Ring of Brodgar, and a couple of other henges in the area.

As seasons progressed, and people returned to Orkney, to continue this great work, the level of the sea rose, and whittled away at the strand that joined Caithness to Orkney. 

Castaways 

At a critical point in the erosion of the strand between Caithness and Orkney, most people would have read the signs, and realised that Orkney would no longer be a viable meeting place for their summer retreat. Either they would, in future, not be able to cross between the two places, or if they did they might not be able to return to Scotland. 

The greater number of people did not return to Orkney. Their campsite was abandoned just after 3000BC, and the stone circles that they were building remained, incomplete. 

The very few people that remained in Orkney formed into small co-habiting communities, and built solid structures of stone and timber, with covered drains, and great windbreaks, or covered interconnecting passages. 

The buildings that these people constructed were among the most complex and revolutionary structures of the time, but their longevity was distinctly limited by the deterioration of the roofing timbers.

These communities were based at Skara Brae,  and the Ness of Brodgar.

Mariners

In the middle of the 3rd millennium BC boats were being developed , and mariners were setting out, from Britain and Europe, to explore offshore islands, like Orkney. 

The mariners arrived at several coastal locations in Orkney, where they set up camp in the ruins of the dwellings that had housed the earlier inhabitants of Orkney.

In some places they appear to have visited the islands briefly, pulled their boats onto land, and hunted the wild aurochs and other beasts roaming the landscape. In other places more permant settlements may have been established. 

When the mariners in their boats arrived in Orkney in the second half of the 3rd millennium BC it is possible that they met face-to-face with some of the surviving ancestors of the Neolithic Orcadian Founding Population.

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 Map of Orkney,  showing Neolithic sites

Jeffery Nicholls 

South Ronaldsay 

Orkney 

The Orkney Riddle (index here) is a series of blogs promoting the notion that Neolithic people walked from Scotland to Orkney to build the Ring of Brodgar. 

Email jiffynorm@yahoo.co.uk 

#Orkney #archaeology #Neolithic #prehistory #British #SkaraBrae #NessofBrodgar #BIIS ##Britice-Chrono