It is fascinating to ponder what brought a group of ancient settlers to the windswept islands of Orkney. One thing is certain: 5,000 years ago the Neolithic village of Skara Brae, fed by a bountiful supply of sealife, was a thriving community. Tucked away in the dunes, on the edge of a horseshoe bay, the inhabitants built comfortable dwellings furnished with stone dressers and beds, played games, made pottery and tools, and even found time to craft jewellery from walrus tusks and whale teeth.
No one can be certain when or why, but at some point an apparently abrupt event emptied the village of its inhabitants, leaving the nearby dunes to blanket Skara Brae for thousands of years.
The village is once again under threat – a recent climate vulnerability study, carried out by a group of environment and heritage experts on behalf of Historic Environment Scotland, concluded the Unesco-protected settlement was extremely vulnerable to sea-level change, increased precipitation and storm intensity.
A century-old seawall now protects the main part of the site, but nearby, recent storms have nibbled away at the delicate sand dunes and peaty soils, leaving the site horribly exposed. The biggest fear is that one mighty storm, with just the right wind direction and swell, could do irreparable damage and sweep Skara Brae into the sea.
