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Skara Brae Prehistoric Village
 Street address: Sandwick, Stromness, Orkney KW16 3LR, Scotland, United Kingdom
Telephone: 44 (0) 1856 841815
Fax: 44 (0) 1856 841885
E-mail: [email protected]
Proprietor: Historic Scotland - one of three sites which collectively comprise the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site
Contact: Mary Dunnett Monument Manager
Telephone: [email protected]k
Opening hours: Apr-Sep: 9.30am-6.30pm daily; Oct-Mar: 9.30am-4.30pm daily
Admission: £4 adult, £3 concessions, £1.30 children, joint ticket with Skaill House (Summer only) £5 adults, £3.75 concessions, £1.30 children
Accessibility: Parking available adjacent to Visitors' Centre; ramp entry to Visitors' Centre which is all on one level and incorporates tearoom, shop, exhibition area and audio/visual room, wheelchair adapted toilet; sound loop available in audio visual theatre and at cash till area; Skara Brae is 400 metres from Visitors' Centre, winding pathway suitable for visitors using wheelchairs or with limited mobility; two wheelchairs available at Visitors' Centre; some external interpretation boards at monument and just over half of the site are accessible, visitors using wheelchairs should be accompanied; Skaill House is linked to the Skara Brae site by footpaths which can be used by visitors using wheelchairs
 Skara Brae is a substantial stone-built Neolithic settlement, located in the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of mainland Orkney. Collectively Skara Brae, Maeshowe and the Standing Stones of Stenness and Ring of Brodgar Stone Circle were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.First uncovered by rough seas and high winds in 1850, the site was subsequently excavated by local laird William Watt of Skaill, but after 1868 it remained undisturbed until 1925, when another storm damaged some of the previously excavated structures. A sea wall was then built to preserve these remains, but during the construction work more ancient structures were discovered, prompting major excavation work between 1928 and 1930 by Vere Gordon Childe.
The site at Skara Brae is believed to have been occupied from about 3100 BCE, for about 600 years. In around 2500 BCE, when the climate became colder and wetter, the settlement was abandoned by its inhabitants.
 Skara Brae is made up of eight dwellings, linked together by a series of low alleyways. Because of the protection offered by the sand that covered the settlement for 4,000 years, the buildings and their contents are very well-preserved. The dwellings contain a number of stone-built pieces of furniture, including cupboards, dressers, seats and box beds. A sophisticated drainage system was even incorporated into the village's design, one that may have included a primitive form of toilet in each dwelling.The ancient inhabitants of Orkney built structures known as chambered cairns. These pyramid-like structures were built as communal burial places, revealing burials according to tribal status. The history of chambered cairns in Orkney spans thousands of years, during which time a variety of designs developed. Though these designs vary, they all fall into one of two main types: the Orkney-Cromarty and the Maeshowe type of chambered cairn.
Located just 300 metres from Skara Brae is Skaill House, one of the most complete 17th-century mansion houses in Orkney.
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