Skara Brae is a stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on
the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, the largest island in the
Orkney archipelago of Scotland. It consists of eight clustered houses, and was
occupied from roughly 3180 BCE–2500 BCE. Europe's most complete Neolithic
village, Skara Brae gained UNESCO World Heritage Site status as one of four
sites making up "The Heart of Neolithic Orkney."a Older than
Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids, it has been called the "Scottish
Pompeii" because of its excellent preservation.
In the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland causing
widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped
the earth from a large irregular knoll, known as "Skerrabra". When
the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting
of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the local
laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four
houses the work was abandoned in 1868. Sources
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