Dresser, Skara Brae, Orkney

Dresser, Skara Brae, Orkney

ID: PC_DONALD_ORKNEY04 DESCRIPTION: One of the shelved 'dressers' in the Neolithic settlement at Skara Brae, Orkney. Each of the eight houses is furnished in a similar manner with central hearth, box-beds, and shelved dressers. The exception is house eight, a freestanding building, which may have been used as a workshop. Parts of the settlement at Skara Brae were first revealed in 1850, following a violent storm. The local laird, William Watt of Skaill, excavated the remains of four ancient houses but after 1868 work was abandoned. In 1925 another storm damaged some of the previously excavated houses and a strengthening sea wall was built to protect the site. In the course of construction, the remains of more ancient houses were discovered. In the late 1920s and early 30s Professor Gordon Childe undertook further excavations to reveal the dwellings that can be seen today. The village may have been in use for around six hundred years between 3100 and 2500 BC. The visible structures represent the latest phase of rebuilding and occupation. PLACENAME: Skara Brae CREATOR (AV): Janine Donald DATE OF IMAGE: 2002 PERIOD: 2000s SOURCE: Janine Donald Asset ID: 22395 KEYWORDS: