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In 1850, a farmer found a secret village. It was later determined to be older than the Great Pyramids of Egypt. Archeologists estimated that 100 people lived in this village named Skara Brae, the "Scottish Pompeii." The houses were connected to each other by tunnels, and each house could be closed off with a stone door.

#archaeohistories

#archaeohistories

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Gidi Kroon
Gidi Kroon
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@Archaeo-Histories I remember from a documentary I once saw about this site (with caveats for a faulty memory) that at a time when people were mostly nomadic, only two (known) places existed in Britain where people lived permanently: near Stonehenge(*) and in Skara Brae and other people may have travelled north and south between them.

What I thought was the most interesting detail is that when you enter one of these stone houses, the wall opposite the door has shelves inset in the stone wall, clearly intended to show off prized possessions to visitors. We have not changed...

(*) edit: near where Stonehenge would later be built.

@Archaeo-Histories
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guyjantic has moved!
guyjantic has moved!
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@gidi If I lived in one of those houses, the shelves would be partly for show and tell, and party for dumping whatever was in my pockets from the day, especially stuff I'd need the next day. I guess they didn't carry around house keys, though.
@Gidi Kroon
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RichardInSandy
RichardInSandy
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@guyjantic @gidi “Honey, have you seen the skull of my enemy ?” “I think it’s on the shelf by the door…”
@Gidi Kroon @guyjantic has moved!
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Ruben
Ruben
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I'm sure we read a historical reimagining novel of Skara Brae in class with I was at school back in the 70s. I wish I could find the book.
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Chris Cooke
Chris Cooke
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And if you go there in the evening, just as the sun is turning golden and nearing the horizon, you’ll find the grassy dunes just outside the village absolutely covered with rabbits. Very bouncy rabbits, which leap away as you get near, so that suddenly the whole ground in front of you suddenly becomes a brown furry carpet, undulating and rushing to one side, as they make their escape.
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Ariaflame
Ariaflame
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Got some thermal mass and insulation going there. I wonder how deep the snow got in winter?
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Bill Bennett
Bill Bennett
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Until my imagination was taken over by the blockbuster movie, this was more or less how I thought of Hobbit houses when reading the Lord of the Rings.
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Aaron V. Humphrey
Aaron V. Humphrey
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_This_ is what they based "The Bard's Tale" on? I mean, that was a city with dungeons under it, not an entire underground city, but it was definitely called "Skara Brae".
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Amoshias
Amoshias
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Skara Brae was the name of the town in the original commodore 64 Bard's Tale game - my absolute favorite game growing up. I never had any idea the name wasn't invented until this moment.
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