My blog is a bit long, so probably off-putting. 
It attempts to "prove" that people were walking from Scotland to Orkney in the early part of the #Neolithic period.
In extensive and detailed research I have found a series of observations derived from other peoples work that, put together,  may be enough to prove that there was walkable land from Doggerland north to the Shetlands,  and also from #Orkney to Caithness.

In brief , there is evidence of a passage of land leading from #Dogger Bank to a location in the north of the North Sea where a flint artefact was found half way between Shetland and Norway.
There is also evidence that that land collapsed towards the Norwegian Coast in 3000BC.

On Orkney, Barnhouse and many other small settlements across mainland Orkney are all shallow sites that are clearly not designed to be occupied in an Orkney winter. These settlements were all abandoned before 3000BC.

My only assumption is that when land in the North of the North Sea was lost so also was a bridge between South Ronaldsay on Orkney,  and Caithness, north Scotland.

The Stones of #Stenness and Ring of #Brodgar were abandoned, unfinished, probably at 3000BC.
The Westray islands are abandoned at 3000BC, and not colonised again until the second half of the 3rd millennium BC.
#Skara #Brae, and the #Ness of #Brodgar, both have dated deposits from before 3000BC indicating there was some kind of occupation until then, but not till after 3000BC are the revolutionary solid structures with stone lined drains and other necessary amenities for winter weather designed and constructed.
The structures at the Ness of Brodgar were made of wood, largely, so they would not have lasted long, a couple of generations perhaps.
The dates of the human bones found in the cairns are largely assessed to before 3000BC, and the dates of the animal bones, also in the cairns, which were arguably being eaten by people, are largely after 3000BC.
This suggests that when a few groups of people isolated from mainland Britain lost the structural secuity of their solidly built structures, they may have sought desperate refuge in the cairns.
Temporary visitors returned,  by newly developed boats, in the second half of the 3rd millennium BC.

Detailed, if longwinded, analysis is in the blog:-

http://orkneyriddler.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-orkney-riddle.html

#archaeology #Orkney #prehistory #Neolithic

I could never quite believe that Neolithic people came to Orkney by boat.
As it is thought that they brought cattle and sheep with them, I could not envisage any animal, or any human, surviving a sea crossing of any British tidal waters in any prehistoric vessel.
Standard sources tie themselves in knots to persuade us that Neolithic people had boats that could carry beasts of both sexes that, once landed, would reproduce and help their tribe to survive on the unknown territory across the dangerous waters.
However, evidence has recently emerged that added another dimension to the problem. It was discovered that the Orkney Vole, a species that is unique to the archipelago, had been found by DNA analysis, to originate from northern Europe, and that it was not directly related to the common vole in Britain. (Thomas Cucchi et al)
This meant that the animal that arrived in Orkney did not pass through England, Wales or Scotland.
A vole arriving in Orkney, from Europe, without passing through Britain was a clue that all was not as it seems, and that in spite of the insistence of some that voles may have been carried as pets or food items, another possibility was probably more likely.
I therefore rather assumed that it must be necessary to question what places were passable around the coasts of Neolithic Britain, which areas were land, and which places were water, and when did land areas stop being land.
It is understood that much of the southern North Sea area was land at some point in the past. A piece of shallow sea called Dogger Bank has been named Doggerland as artefacts of 8000 years of age, and older, are frequently dredged up there. The rise in sea level which has occurred since the last ice age has clearly flooded lands here, but which lands, where, and when?
The obvious location, or so I thought, for a route to Orkney from Europe , that would be passable for small rodents, on foot, and avoiding England and Scotland, would be somewhere in the middle of the North Sea which, of course, is a bizarre idea.
Indeed, it was such a bizarre idea that I followed it, to see where it took me.
The result of my research can be seen in my blog:-

http://orkneyriddler.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-orkney-riddle.html

#Orkney #Neolithic #archaeology #prehistory #Brodgar #nessofbrodgar #Skara #skarabrae  #barnhouse #knapofhowar #linksofnoltland #Noltland #cairns #Maeshowe

Each stone in the circle at the Ring of Brodgar has been worked to break along a fissure, creating a unique common profile. Each stone has more or less upright edge on one side, and on the opposite side a sloping edge.
At Vestra Fiold on the west coast, a partially quarried stone that conforms to this design has been discovered and excavated. (Colin Richards) It is cut out and ready to move, but has not been taken, suggesting that work on the Ring of Brodgar, for which it was destined, was also halted before it was completed.
Why?
#Orkney #Neolithic #Brodgar #prehistory #archaeology

The Ring of Brodgar is one of the two famous henges at Brodgar, and a major monument of the World Heritage Site.
“The original number of stones is uncertain. At the present time the position of at least forty can be identified, and there are spaces for twenty more, if it is assumed that they were erected at approximately equal distances apart. This would bring the total in the original plan to sixty.” (RCAHMS)
Today, the stone circle comprises 21 erect monoliths. The position of a further ten is represented by either stumps or packing stones projecting through the turf. Two more stones lie prone just inside each causeway respectively. Of the c. 60 stones only 13 remained standing. (Downes) “
#Orkney #Neolithic #prehistory #Brodgar #henges #archaeology

We found this A/P etching by Dennis Ward in a vintage place in Leith today. Titled ‘Confrontation at Brodgar, Orkney’, it has a brooding light-and-darkness quality reminiscent of many of Orkney’s landscapes.

It turns out Ward was latterly Professor Emeritus of Russian Studies at Edinburgh University, and in fact the first Professor of Russian there, and was chair of Edinburgh Printmakers in the late 1990s.

#DennisWard #Etching #Printmaking #EdinburghPrintmakers #Orkney #Brodgar #RingOfBrodgar

@theguardian_science
"Did the Neolithic builders of the megalithic stone circles intend to express pi?" 2012.03.14
https://jqjacobs.net/archaeology/stonehenge/stonehenge_pi.html
#Stonehenge #Avebury #Orkney #Brodgar #Archaeology #Neolithic #Megaliths

Ring of Brodgar

One of the many 'must see' places on the Orkney's are the Ring of Brodgar. The Ring of Brodgar Stone Circle and Henge is an enormous ceremonial site

https://wulliebroon.com/ring-of-brodgar/

#Islands #Orkneys #brodgar #orkney #Scotland #StandingStones

Am Ring of #Brodgar gibt es diesen Sommer jeden Tag um 13 Uhr eine kostenlose Führung 👍
Mit 103 Meter Durchmesser ist der Steinkreis einer der größten und schwer zu fotografieren.

The Ring of Brodgar, Orkney Mainland #StandingStoneSunday #brodgar #ringofbrodgar #OrkneyIsles #scotland

ring of brodgar #orkney #orkneyIslands #standingstones #brodgar

ring of brodgar #orkney #orkneyIslands #standingstones #brodgar