Barnhouse Neolithic Village Wonderful Wild Orkney Photos

Home  /  Historic Places & Art Index  /  Prehistoric Photos Index  /  Neolithic Village & Towns Photos

Photos of Barnhouse Neolithic Village Orkney – The picturesque ruins of a prehistoric village, part of the incredible Orkney Neolithic ensemble. Photos by Photographer Paul E Williams. (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)

How To Download These Photos ?

Photos of Barnhouse Neolithic Village Orkney

---

Photos of the Neolithic Barnhouse Nolithic settlement archaeological site on the Isle of Orkney, Scotland.

Close to the standing stones of Stenness and Brodgar on the banks of Loch Harray, is a neolithic village known today as the Barnhouse settlement. Dating from around 2600BC the settlement has at its centre what appears to have been a central hall about 7 meters square.

Like Maeshowe, the hall of Barnhouse is built in a base of yellow clay. To enter the building people had to pass along a 3 meter long corridor which suggests that the building had some sort of ritual purpose. This idea is strengthened by the close approximation of the Standing Stones of Stenness and Brodgar.

The bases of 15 houses have been excavated at Barnhouse which are similar in ground plan to those at Skara Brae. They consisted of round stone walls with timber and turf roofs and were accessed through small doorways.

Unlike Skara brae the doorways at Barnhouse were not connected by covered passage ways but trying to connect the 2 neolithic village styles is pointless as the Barnhouse settlement was abandoned 450 years before Skara Brae was built.

There is evidence that each of the buildings at Barnhouse was demolished deliberately at some point either as part of an attack on them or as part of a ritual practise of the time.

As with all the Neolithic archaeological sites on Orkney, the purpose of Barnhouse is the subject of much academic debate. The ritualistic features at Barnhouse have developed the idea that the site was the dwelling place of priests and some of the houses were in fact chambered cairns used as tombs.

The close proximity of the standing stones seems to suggest that maybe Barnhouse was a ritualistic centre and this may explain why it was dismantled, maybe when ritualistic practices changed.

All photos can be downloaded as royalty free images.