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Skara Brae () is a stone-built Neolithic settlement located along the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney.

The site was discovered following a storm exposing the presence of stone structures within the coastal sand dunes. Today, ten structures and four passageways are visible, as well as the remains of stone furniture and fixtures. The site was occupied from roughly 3180 BC to around 2500 BC and is Europe's most complete Neolithic village. Skara Brae gained UNESCO World Heritage Site status as one of four sites making up "The Heart of Neolithic Orkney". Care of the site is the responsibility of Historic Environment Scotland which works with partners in managing the site: Orkney Islands Council, NatureScot (Scottish Natural Heritage), and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

The modern name Skara Brae reflects the layered linguistic history of Orkney, where elements from Old Norse and Scots frequently appear in place names.

Gordon Childe, who travelled to Skara Brae for the first time in mid-1927. The women have been tentatively identified as Margaret Simpson (who was acknowledged in Childe's monographs about Skara Brae), Margaret Mitchell, Mary Kennedy, and Margaret Cole.

The inhabitants of Skara Brae were makers and users of grooved ware, a distinctive style of pottery that had recently appeared in northern Scotland. The Grooved Ware People who built Skara Brae were primarily pastoralists who raised cattle, pigs, and sheep. Graham and Anna Ritchie cast doubt on this interpretation noting there is no archaeological evidence for this claim, although a Neolithic "low road" that goes from Skara Brae passes near both these sites and ends at the chambered tomb of Maeshowe.

The site was farther from the sea than it is today, and it is possible that Skara Brae was built adjacent to a fresh water lagoon protected by dunes.

Dating from 3500 BC to 3100 BC, it is similar in design to Skara Brae, but from an earlier period, and it is thought to be the oldest preserved standing building in northern Europe. The houses have similarities to those of the early phase of Skara Brae in that they have central hearths, beds built against the walls and stone dressers, and internal drains, but differ in that the houses seem to have been free-standing. There is also a site currently under excavation at Links of Noltland on Westray that appears to have similarities to Skara Brae.

In addition to Skara Brae the site includes Maeshowe, the Ring of Brodgar, the Standing Stones of Stenness and other nearby sites. The monuments at the heart of Neolithic Orkney and Skara Brae proclaim the triumphs of the human spirit in early ages and isolated places.

The report by Historic Environment Scotland, the Orkney Islands Council and others concludes that the entire Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site, and in particular Skara Brae, is "extremely vulnerable" to climate change due to rising sea levels, increased rainfall and other factors; it also highlights the risk that Skara Brae could be partially destroyed by one unusually severe storm.

In Kim Stanley Robinson's 1991 novelette A History of the Twentieth Century, with Illustrations, the main character visits Skara Brae and other Neolithic sites in the Orkney Islands during a journey undertaken to gain perspective on the violent history of the twentieth century.

The Irish traditional music group Skara Brae took its name from the settlement.

In the film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Indiana Jones is shown lecturing his students about Skara Brae, where he gives the date as "3100 BC".

The video game series Ultima includes a city named Skara Brae.

Skara Brae is used as the name for a Scottish pub in New York City in the IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic series.

Quick Facts

• Skara Brae gained UNESCO World Heritage Site status as one of four sites making up "The Heart of Neolithic Orkney".
• The modern name Skara Brae reflects the layered linguistic history of Orkney, where elements from Old Norse and Scots frequently appear in place names.
• Gordon Childe, who travelled to Skara Brae for the first time in mid-1927.
• The women have been tentatively identified as Margaret Simpson (who was acknowledged in Childe's monographs about Skara Brae), Margaret Mitchell, Mary Kennedy, and Margaret Cole.
• Care of the site is the responsibility of Historic Environment Scotland which works with partners in managing the site: Orkney Islands Council, NatureScot (Scottish Natural Heritage), and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Skara Brae". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.