Since I had read „At home“ by Bill Bryson with its great chapter on Skara Brae I had dreamed to visit the Orkneys. And when I planned my trip to Scotland for summer 2019 it was my top priority to see these islands.
We travelled around the whole northern coast of the country including the most important Islands and I found the landscape absolutely stunning: The lushness of the vegetation and the shades of green in the wonderful Glencoe valley asked for a longer exploration then we had time for. Five days on the Isle of Skye were hardly enough, even more so since it included a day trip to the Outer Hebrides and a great, long, rough and very expensive day trip to St. Kilda. More about that in another post.
When we continued north towards the Cape of Wrath and the Orkneys the vegetation changed a lot but the landscape remained fascinating: Trees disappeared almost completely, there were only bushes, meadows and mainly moss. This increased until we arrived on the Orkneys with their scraggy vegetation. It seems that the Orkneys have been lacking trees for thousands of years and even its neolithic population - and everybody after them - had to look for other material. Fortunately there is the typical tabular Orkney flagstone that can be found almost anywhere and that seems very easy to work with. This combination makes the Orkneys the most fascinating neolithic sites of northern Europe.
 
The Heart of Neolithic Orkney
 
The title of this WHS is fitting: It contains possibly the best sites of the archipelago in a relatively small area: Skara Braeis an miraculously conserved village with sewage system and interior decoration, the Ring of Brodgar is a stone ring that is much older and larger (but simpler) then Stonehenge and Maes Howe is the most sophisticated artistic and architectonic feat on the islands with the nice icing of its collection of Viking runes. The forth site is smaller and a bit less impressive: The Stones of Stenness.
The title implies a connection between the four sites and three of them (Skara Brae has a separate buffer zone) are so close and beautifully situated between two lakes that a sacred or at least ritual connection between the sites seems obvious. There are many more ancient sites between and around them: stone rings, hill tombs and the interesting Barnhouse settlement, many of a similar age, but they are only in the buffer zone.  In recent years the main focus of archaeologists has lain on the Ness of Bordgar, a huge complex of buildings that has only partly been excavated and it is already called by some archaeologists the most important archaeological dig in the world. It shows very different buildings then Skara Brae, much bigger, which had clearly a public function.
Right on the shore of the Loch of Stenness, one of the two lakes, lies the Unstan Cairn, a beautiful tomb that is also one of the oldest buildings of the island (and in the UK and in northern Europe…).
 
Yet only the four main sites are part of the core zone, the rest of the mentioned buildings is in the buffer zone. Considering the proximity and the connection between all of them an extension of the site seems not only logical but also necessary. It would make most sense to include most of what is now the buffer zone into a new core zone.
A similar thing can be said about the core zone of Skara Brae, a few miles further west: There are strong indications that the piece of grass land next to it might be part of the same village but for decades there has been no money to start digging there. This is absolutely flabbergasting: one of the most fascinating archaeological sites in the world and there is not money (in the first world) to continue digging!
 
 
Great archaeological sites outside the WHS:
While this two areas are certainly reason enough to travel to the Orkneys they are by far not the only reason to travel there. They say you can’t build a house on the Orkneys without finding traces of an ancient building. While I cannot say if this is literally true I can attest that the five days we spent on the Orkneys were hardly enough to see the most important sites. There are so many more sites and so many of them are so remarkable that they should not be missed and some of them would easily deserve to be part of the WHS or even a separate one.
I will point out here only the most important sites that I would consider a must to every dedicated visitor:
 
The Island of Rousay lies north of Mainland Orkney. Its West coast is called “the Egypt of the North” for the amazing density of ancient buildings and it could be a WHS in its own right. Several of them are remarkable: The Taversoe Tuik, a Neolithic chamber tomb that is unique for its two floors, the Blackhammer Chambered Cairn, the Know of Yarsoand - as the highlight - the huge Midhowe Chambered Cairn, the largest prehistoric building on the Orkneys (also neolithic). The neighbouring Midhowe Broch is from a later period, the Iron Age, and was altered and reused over hundreds of years.
All these buildings were built of stones but had a roof made with organic material that is now lost. The same is true for Maes Howe, which was completed - historically incorrectly - with a stone ceiling. Most tombs on Rousay have an even less historic concrete roof with windows that light the previously dark spaces and make a visit easier and potentially nicer. But the light together with the wet weather allows the growth of moss on the stones and this will lead over time to great damage to the structures. I hope they will clean them and close the window holes in order to keep this heritage from getting lost.
On the way back to the ferry we walked further down, closer to the sea. Thereby we passed the extensive ruins of Skaill Farm from the 18th century. This was doubly interesting as there was a team of experts and volunteers at work who were most kind in explaining us their finds and the different levels that were discernible. Even better, further on we found a large team of young people excavating a site right next to the sea called „Swandro site“. This was found only recently and seems a rather unique site on the Orkneys insofar as it includes finds from very different periods encompassing thousands of years. A young lady was so kind to explain to us what they were doing. It seems like a big puzzle and they have to document every new layer and try to figure out which stone belongs to which structure and period while the sea is gradually washing away the site. This is quite a tragedy: A very complex, possibly unique site has to be excavated and documented as quickly as possible before will disappear. You can follow their work online (and make a contribution) on https://www.swandro.co.uk . To get to Rousay in the summer there are several ferries a day from Tingwall House on Mainland Orkney. It might be of advantage to make a reservation (only by phone), especially if you bring a car.
 
Probably the most enjoyable neolithic site on the Orkneys needs a further journey: We took a small plane from Kirkwall airport to the northern Island of Papa Westray. Those flights are often very cheap on the condition that you spend at least one night on the island, probably a means to help the economy there. There is literally only one, quite decent hotel on the island. The flight was a treat since it gave us the opportunity to see the archipelago from the air, even the small, private, inaccessible islands. Just for that it was worth the trip! The other great thing about the flight was, that when we checked in they just asked for our names but didn’t even want to see our ticket or identification. I think this may be the only country in the world where people still trust you to be honest! If it hadn’t happened before this was the final moment I fell in love with this country.
 
After arriving with our tiny plane on Papa Westray and checking in we walked a mile or so to our main attraction: The Knap of Howar, a pair of houses on the west coast of the island, similar to the houses in Skara Brae but even around 500 years older! They are the oldest building in the UK and the oldest surviving dwellings north of the Mediterranean! They are free to visit, it was a beautiful afternoon and there was nobody else around. Like Skara Brae they look like the inhabitants had just left them. We could enter the houses, sit in the niches they build into the wall, lie on their beds. Who has ever lain in bed that is 5500 years old? After enjoying this we continued our walk along the coast of the northern half of the island, most of which is a natural reserve for birds with interesting rocks all the way around.
Of the other Neolithic buildings on the Orkneys we visited I will here only recommend one more: We found the Wideford Hill Cairn near Kirkwall especially beautifully built and it is easy to reach. The beauty of its architecture recalled Maes Howe.
On the southern Island of Hoy with its impressively high cliffs is another unique site that we did not have the time to visit: Dwarfie Stane is the only tomb on the Orkneys carved out of massive rock. Like most Neolithic buildings on the Orkneys it is older then the first Egyptian pyramids.
 
Younger buildings
While the Orkneys are most incredible for the age and sophistication of their neolithic buildings there are also later buildings of great interest that should not be missed:
On the west coast of Mainland there is the Broch of Borwick: Like all brochs it is much, much younger then the Neolithic buildings but still around 2000 years old. This is attractive as it can be linked with a walk along the fantastic cliffs on that coast, along the Yesnaby Coastal Walk.
At the north end of this coast is another great combination of archaeology and landscape: The Brough of Birsay: This little island can be reached by foot but only at low tide. This has remains of several periods: it was inhabited by the Picts and it may have been the seat of one of their kings. Then it was taken over by the Vikings. There are extensive remains of the foundations of Viking houses, which is insofar unique as the Vikings normally built with wood. Here, as in Jarlshof on the Shetlands, they were forced, like everybody else, to build in stone. Therefore there is much more left to see then in most, even the more famous (and inscribed) Viking sites which often are rather disappointing. There was also a monastery and the island is mentioned in the Orkneyinga Saga as the seat of the first Norwegian Earl on the Orkneys. The short hike around the island leads to a lighthouse and offers fantastic cliff views (you can tell, I love cliffs).
Very impressive in the Northeast of Mainland, opposite Rousay, is the Broch of Gurness, especially for the well-preserved broch village around it. It is nonetheless a challenge to make sense of the structures: Did they have roofs? And if yes, how were they built if there was no wood available?
 
After the broch and the Viking era the last great era of the Orkneys was the medieval era (from 1000 AD on) which is linked in many places to the Orkneyinga Saga: On Mainland there is a massive ruin of a Bishops Palace in Birsay (on the mainland, not the island). There are more interesting looking buildings on the island of Wyre and Egilsay but we did not have the time to travel there.
But the main buildings from around 1000 AD are conveniently in the capital Kirkwall: The elaborate Bishop’s and Earl's Palaces and above all they grandest building on the islands: St.-Magnus-Cathedral, built of beautiful red stone.
 
It is really worth exploring these islands for their unique heritage as well as for their landscape. After five days we had the feeling we had seen the most important sites but certainly not exhausted the archipelago.