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|
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| September
15-29 |
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| We
spent the next two weeks in a self-catering cottage
by the beach at Scapa, about a mile out of Kirkwall.
The accomodations were excellent but the nicest feature
is that we lay halfway between Scotland's northernmost
distilleries— Highland Park and Scapa. |
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|
Scapa
Beach and Distillery |
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|
Turnstones
on Scapa Beach |
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| The
archaeology of Orkney is one of the major attractions
of the islands. From the earliest stone age farmers
to Viking earls of the islands, all have left their
mark and there are literally hundreds of sites to visit.
|
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|
Gurness
Broch |
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| Gurness,
on the shores of Eynhallow Sound, is one of a number
of fortified dwellings known as brochs that are found
throughout northern Scotland during the Iron Age. They
belonged to local chiefs of the period, which lasted
from about 800 BC until the arrival of the Romans in
the first century AD. |
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|
Paul
& Fraser (flanking our car) gazing towards Marwick
Head |
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|
The
Brough of Birsay from the Churchyard of St. Magnus |
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| The
Brough of Birsay is a tidal island just of the coast
in the northwest that was occupied by Picts and later
by the Norse during the Middle Ages. It can only be
reached by foot at low tide. This isolation was very
attractive to the Vikings who used it as their main
base of operations for plundering raids down the west
coast of Britain and into Ireland. After the conversion
of the Norse settlers to Christianity, the island was
for a time the seat of ecclestiastical power in Orkney
and the remains of a romanesque church dominated the
site. |
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|
Waves
crashing at Buckquoy |
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|
Brough
of Birsay, the ruins of the Norse settlement |
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|
Brough
of Birsay. Cliffs |
Brough
of Birsay. Waves |
|
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| A
few miles south of Birsay is the prehistoric village
of Skara Brae, one of the oldest and best preserved
sites of the Neolithic period. It was occupied for several
hundred years, beginning around 3200 BC, before it was
abandoned. There is plenty of good building stone in
Orkney, which compensated for the lack of timber, so
the houses and much of their furnishings have been preserved.
A more complete description of Skara Brae can be found
in the Odyssey article. |
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|
Skara
Brae |
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|
Skara
Brae. A stone ‘dresser’ |
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| Further
south are the cliffs at Yesnaby, some of the most dramatic
scenery in the islands. The wind was up when we walked
along them and the crashing waves were a sight to see. |
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|
Yesnaby.
View of the Cliffs with Hoy in the distance |
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| Neolithic
chambered tombs are a common feature on the Orkney landscape—
there are about 100 known examples on the islands. One
of the better preserved is the cairn at Cuween Hill,
just outside Finstown. |
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|
Cuween
Hill. Entrance to the Tomb |
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|
Cuween
Hill. Interior of the Tomb |
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| The
Brough of Deerness at the north-eastern tip of the Mainland
corresponds to the Brough of Birsay in the northwest.
It was apparently home to some sort of ecclesiastical
community— the remains of a 10th century chapel
and a cluster of other buildings. However, the date
and function of the latter remains uncertain. There
used to be a land-bridge linking the promontory to the
mainland but it has long since washed away |
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|
Brough
of Deerness |
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