The Broch of Gurness

We left the Neolithic period this morning and moved into the Iron Age 2,000 years ago! Brochs are unique to Scotland apparently and many of these stone towers stood alone but in Orkney they were surrounded by sizeable villages. It was quite amazing to wander around the foundations of these houses and observe the beautiful stonework, the hearths, dressers, quern stones and storage pits near the hearth, we speculated that the latter might have been used for storage, cooking, washing up or even bathing the baby!! We also thought that the interior space had changed very little in the 3,000 years since the house at Skara Brae was built, human needs are quite simple really.
We had a welcome coffee in Kirkwall, the blue skies are a bit deceptive there was a freezing northerly wind! Then off to Maeshowe and back to the heart of Neolithic Orkney. This was a guided tour for just a few people. It was an excellent talk setting the chambered tomb into it's ritual landscape, the Stones of Stenness, the Ness of Brodgar and the Ring of Brodgar are all clearly visible from here. The inner chamber is lit by the setting sun on the winter solstice. Most amusing was the translation of the runic graffiti left by Viking lads who raided the tomb in the 12 century, rude and bawdy!!
Another wonderfully full and satisfying day.