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Home , Carved stone balls, Henge, Ness of Brodgar, Ring of Brodgar, Skara Brae, Stenness

Where can I find out more? Further Information For more information about visiting the sites see the HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT Heart of Longmore House, Salisbury Place, Historic Environment Scotland website. Look out EH9 1SH for their guidebooks to and . Tel: +44 (0)131 668 8600 Email: [email protected] A Management Plan and the Research Agenda for the www.historicenvironment.scot World Heritage Site are available to download from HONO WHS RANGER SERVICE their website. Tel: +44 (0)1856 841 732 Email: [email protected] Artefacts found at Skara Brae can be seen at the Orkney Museum in and the National School Place, Kirkwall, Orkney KW15 1NY Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Tel: +44 (0)1856 873 535 Email: [email protected] www.orkney.gov.uk World Heritage Site New discoveries in and around the World Heritage Site continue to enrich our understanding of the SCOTTISH NATURAL HERITAGE Great Glen House, Leachkin Road, Inverness IV3 8NW monuments and the people who built and used Tel: +44 (0)1463 725 000 them. Look out for updates in the media, or try the Email: [email protected] www.snh.gov.uk websites of some of the organisations listed at the back of this leaflet. RSPB SCOTLAND 2 Lochside View, Edinburgh Park, Edinburgh EH12 9DH Tel: +44 (0)131 317 4100 Planning a trip to Orkney? Find out more at Email: [email protected] VisitScotland online: www.visitscotland.com or www.rspb.org.uk VisitOrkney: visitorkney.com THE ORKNEY MUSEUM House, Broad Street, Kirkwall, Orkney KW15 1DH Tel: +44 (0)1856 873 191 Email: [email protected] www.orkney.gov.uk/Service-Directory/S/orkney-museum.htm

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND Chambers Street , Edinburgh EH1 1JF Tel: +44 (0)300 123 6789 www.nms.ac.uk

UHI INSTITUTE, ORKNEY COLLEGE Kirkwall, Orkney KW15 1LX Tel: +44 (0)1856 569 000 Email: [email protected] www.uhi.ac.uk/en/archaeology-institute

Carved stone balls (Skara Brae) ORKNEYJAR Information about the ancient history, folklore and traditions of Orkney and the excavation. www.orkneyjar.com

Produced by Historic Environment Scotland Images © Crown Copyright HES unless otherwise specified Front cover: Skara Brae, Maeshowe entrance passage,

Replica House, Skara Brae Quernstone (Skara Brae) © Historic Environment Scotland - Scottish Charity No. SC045925 Five thousand years ago, in the far north What is the Heart What can I see and do today? of Scotland, the prehistoric people of the of Neolithic Orkney? Guided tours take visitors into the beautiful central Orkney Islands began constructing some A collection of important domestic and chamber at Maeshowe where you can also see graffiti extraordinary monuments out of stone. monuments dating to the Neolithic or New Stone left by sheltering Vikings. Nearby lie the great stone In 1999, several of these were inscribed Age. They lie in a wider landscape rich with other circles at and Brodgar, which you can visit archaeological remains from the Neolithic and at your own pace, or join a Ranger- led tour exploring on the World Heritage List as the Heart from many later periods of Orcadian history. the cultural and natural heritage of the sites. of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site, Surrounding the Ring of Brodgar is an RSPB reserve in recognition of their unique status. Skara Brae is a or settlement whose stone walls, where you can explore this unique landscape and see passageways and stone furnishings, such as beds and more of Orkney’s special wildlife. The World Heritage Site monuments are: the village dressers, survive to the present day. of Skara Brae; Maeshowe chambered tomb; the Six miles north - west, the village of Skara Brae sits by Barnhouse Stone and the Watchstone standing Maeshowe, a chambered tomb, is an extraordinary the white sands of the Bay of Skaill, overlooking the stones; the ; the Ring of Brodgar example of Neolithic architectural genius. It was Atlantic. As as viewing the original buildings, you and the funerary monuments and stone settings designed to allow the winter sunset to shine can explore a reconstruction of one of the houses that lie around it. up the passageway and illuminate the spectacular and see original artefacts in the visitor centre. central chamber. Individually, they are masterpieces of Neolithic design and stonework construction. Together, they represent The Stones of Stenness and is a very one of the richest surviving Neolithic landscapes in early example of this type of monument. The surviving western Europe, and give us exceptional insights into stones are enormous, standing up to 6 metres in height. the society, skills and spiritual beliefs of the people who constructed them. The Ring of Brodgar is a great stone circle 130 metres across. Surrounded by a rock-cut ditch, it is set in a spectacular natural amphitheatre of lochs and hills.

Neolithic Carving (Skara Brae)

Stones of Stenness Maeshowe Ring of Brodgar Skara Brae doorway