Orkney Island Holidays
Archaeology and history in Orkney
ARCHAEOLOGY IN ORKNEY
"....see and learn about some amazing archaeological sites which make Stonehenge look post-modern and will raise Tony Robinson to a level of excitement not seen since Baldric won the world’s largest turnip!" - Fred Heath, Essex.
There’s a local saying that if you scratch the surface in Orkney you will find archaeology, and every year this is proved with the finding of new sites. These add to the wealth which is internationally renowned.
An area of West Mainland has been designated a World Heritage Site because of its major 5,000 year-old Neolithic sites.
- The Neolithic Village of Skara Brae which shows us how people lived
- The intriguing Tomb of Maeshowe which makes us wonder at the craftsmanship of the ancient builders, together with its Viking Runic inscriptions - only one thousand years old but now viewed as valuable graffiti.
- The two spectacular stone circles, the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness, the true purpose of which still eludes us, allowing the imagination to roam over possible theories.
- New excavations on the Ness of Brodgar which are exciting the archaeological community and adding to our overall picture of life in Neolithic Orkney.
Louise has made extensive studies of these sites, and keeps up with local expert opinion. Your tour with her will be a most enlightening and unforgettable experience. She will help you understand the monuments in their wider context and probably stimulate more questions than answers!!
At these sites you will be able to make contact with the original inhabitants by sitting inside their buildings, marvelling at their craftsmanship and understanding the human instincts which motivated them, visualising neighbours visiting each other amid the bustle of activity of a rural village.
As these places are so important and spectacular they can be included on any Orkney Island Holiday in Orkney: for people who have already seen them, there are numerous alternative sites to be visited.
“After Louise’s comments on ancient Orkney civilisations, EVERY stone on the beach came under close scrutiny – was it a hammer or a two-pronged tool?" Brian and Liz Slattery, Auchtermuchty.
In addition to the very well-known sites there are many more worth going to, spanning a period from the Mesolithic c. 6000 BC to the end of the Iron Age, c. 300 AD, both on Mainland Orkney and in the different islands. These include:-
- The fantastic Midhowe Tomb in Rousay
- The oldest standing dwelling house in Europe at Knap of Howar in Papa Westray
- Quoyness chambered tomb in Sanday
- Vinquoy Tomb in Eday
- The Dwarfie Stane in Hoy
- The Brochs of Gurness, Mainland; Burroughston, Shapinsay; and Midhowe, Rousay
- The intriguing Iron Age site at Mine Howe
Paul and Louise have both developed a deep interest in the distant past over their years in Orkney, pursuing their knowledge by contact with local resident and visiting experts whenever the opportunity arises. This resulted in building our own small stone circle which taught us quite a bit about the process!
Louise has completed Orcadian Studies Courses exploring the history of Orkney and has written several articles on these subjects.
Courses included the Place Names of Orkney; Interpreting Orkney’s Past Through Artefacts; The Early History of Orkney, and one on Three Orkney Poets : George Mackay Brown, Robert Rendall and Edwin Muir; all of these poets were influenced by the archaeology and history of the islands.
Our different Holidays to the various islands allow you to get beyond the obvious, to experience this aspect of Orkney in more depth. Because of the wealth of archaeology in Orkney, university departments bring their students to undertake digs in the summer months.
Orkney Archaeological Trust undertakes summer digs too. As we live here we can find out about these and arrange visits to live digs for our guests. Some are on-going year after year, so we can build up our knowledge and set the scene for you.
History in Orkney
You could say that history in Orkney and Shetland takes over from archaeology with the Picts in the early centuries AD. The Pictish Kingdom extended from Fife to Shetland in Eastern Scotland, and is characterised by a civilised and literate society which brought Christianity into the islands. Symbol stones carved to depict religious and other stories are a major legacy throughout the Kingdom, and Orkney and Shetland both have fascinating remnants of these, together with buildings. Beautiful articles made of precious metals and gemstones have turned up, sometimes in buried collections known as ‘hoards’ which can now be seen in museums.
It is interesting to imagine such a rich and cultural society here so far back, contrasting with the modern perception of these islands being on the edge rather than an integral part of a bigger picture.
The marauding Norwegians, or Vikings, came in the ninth century, firstly as raiders but they very quickly settled, so we call the centuries up to 1470 the Norse Period rather than the Viking period – ‘Viking’ is a verb meaning to go off travelling, exploring and raiding.
The Norse influence on the Northern Isles was immense, and today we see it in the place names and dialect, twelfth century buildings – some still in use, such as St. Magnus Cathedral, -- boat building styles, law systems and strong cultural links with Norway, despite 500 years of Scottish rule.
The ‘Orkneyinga Saga’ and other sagas written in Iceland in 1200 provide a great deal of knowledge about this period here, while in other parts of the U.K. little is known. In Orkney it was a colourful period which has shaped the cultural development of the region to this day.
With the Scots came the Feudal System of lairds and tenant farmers. Some of the early lairds, notably the Stewarts, were despots who treated their tenants very badly and were punished for this by the Scottish King. Mary, Queen of Scots, had sympathisers in Orkney, and later some lairds allied themselves to the Jacobite cause, to their detriment. Exciting stories from these times survive and add to the interest as we travel through the islands.
The lairds continued to be powerful through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The Napoleonic Wars had a huge effect in Orkney: kelp was important to industry and was unavailable from France, the usual source. Orkney became a major supplier and the Lairds made massive fortunes from it, though the tenants did all the work. Defenses against the French were built in Orkney – forts and Martello towers can still be seen.
In most of the islands the Victorian laird’s wishes for his land have molded how it is today: the Laird had complete power over his tenants, and many were displaced. As we visit different islands we will see the results of these policies. In Rousay tenant farmers were removed for sheep, so we see large areas of the island without homes. Eday’s laird wanted grouse moors, so heather moorland is now a feature of Eday’s landscape.
In Shapinsay, Westray and Sanday the laird’s aim was to implement agricultural improvements – this involved the removal of many tenants but the ones who could stay had better farms: on these three islands agricultural standards are still high and farms prosper.
The twentieth century’s World Wars brought national prominence to Orkney. The use of Scapa Flow as a major naval base meant that hundreds of forces personnel swelled the population. Traces of fortifications remain, and the local people have many memories of these times.
Twenty-first century issues of survival, conservation, renewable energy, economic development and cultural identity exercise the minds of modern Orcadian residents, as they try to improve standards of living while holding on to the sound traditional values that make Orkney such a great place to be, and such an interesting place to visit.
- The Brough of Birsay: Pictish monastic and metal working community
- St. Magnus Cathedral: built in the Norse period
- Noltland Castle, Westray: sixteenth century fortification
- Martello Tower, South Walls: Napoleonic defenses
- Balfour Village, Shapinsay: Victorian planned village
- The Italian Chapel: converted and decorated by Italian prisoners of war.
- The Churchill Barriers: built to prevent enemy attack on Scapa Flow.
“Them and Us” by Ken Roycroft, Derby.
“At Skara Brae there were homely homes.
Round the Ring of Brodgar we walked small.
In Maes Howe we were mystified and awed.
All on a grey mizzly day.
And so we returned cold and subdued.
But we downed goblets of fire,
The Orcadian accordian played
And we danced the Furrowend fantastic.
At Skara Brae, at the end of the day,
Did they dance around the houses?
Did they sing on the shore
To land, sea and sky?
And when they pointed skywards
The last stone of the Ring,
What the cavorting,
What the furiantes,
What the fandangos?
They were us, and now,
Here in Shapinsay
We could be them.”