We were leaving Orkney in the late afternoon, so we had most of the day to explore. We started with the Ring of Brodgar. There are still 36 stones standing out of the original 72 and they have been here for 4500 years. Then we arrived at Skara Brae a most unique stone age community living on the edge of the sea in stone chambers that were built with sod covered roofs and linked together by covered walk ways. There are nine houses and a workshop all discovered when a fierce storm moved the sand dunes in the late 1800’s. The homes are very similar with stone beds that would be lined with a thick layer of dried grasses and animal skins, a “showcase” for storage visible as you entered the house, a large flat hearth where a fire would be constantly burning for both cooking and heat and small fish tanks where a catch could be kept alive for a few days. There are other pieces but the usage is not known. They also made decorated pottery, needles and other tools from bone and antlers, stone ax and spears and so much more that you may have to rethink how life was lived 5000 years ago. Yes, this village, and there are more in the area, is older than the pyramids, the great wall of China or even most of my friends. We also visited the manor house of the estate that owned the land around the area. It too was well worth the time. Jill and I then drove around the top of the island, stopping at a craft village - not much there but it is in old RAF barracks. Most of the folks would qualify as 1960 hippies. There were stops at small villages, miles of stone walls, narrow one lane roads with cringing moments when a caravan was oncoming. We returned to the village of Stromness to find some food. Well, only one restaurant was open and it was, well, okay at best. We walked the main street but did not find much of interest in the stores that were open. Some cool signs and buildings did catch our interest. The ferry trip was uneventful - a good thing, and very sparse traffic so we basically had a lot of space to choose where to sit. We picked up our car and heading 90 minutes south to the next bed and breakfast. What a great place the island was and so interesting to see how our ancestors may have lived. Of course, we all have some stone age people from our past.
