Skara Brae is the ruins of a Neolithic settlement (3100-2500 BCE), located on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland Orkney, Scotland.

Top Places in Scotland

Largs, Scotland

Kelburn Castle

A 13th-century castle covered in a gigantic graffiti mural.

55.7709, -4.8433

Milton, Scotland

The Dog Suicide Bridge

This Scottish bridge seems to compel dogs to leap to their death.

55.9366, -4.5215

Added by Genki

Argyll and Bute, Scotland

Polphail Village

Built during the Scottish boom in the oil industry, the village was never inhabited.

55.9343, -5.2807

Added by stevied

See more things to do in Scotland »

Skara Brae’s inhabitants are thought to have been makers and users of “grooved ware,” a distinctive pottery style developed in northern Scotland not long before the establishment of the settlement.

Skara Brae consists of ten clustered houses built of flat stones stacked within earthen dams, without mortar. Given the number of homes in the community, it seems likely that no more than fifty people lived in Skara Brae at any given time.

The dwellings contain a number of stone-built pieces of furniture, including cupboards, dressers, seats, and storage boxes. A number of enigmatic carved stone artifacts have been found at the site. The purpose of these remains debated among scholars.

It is also thought to be one of the earliest settlements to have a toilet and sewer system of some sort. Each individual hut released its waste into a central drainage system that carried it to the ocean. The stone drains were thought to be 14 to 24 inches high and lined with tree bark to make them watertight.

Skara Brae is a UNESCO World Heritage site.