Stone Age Settlement Endangered by Sea Levels

Skara Brae is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Orkney, Scotland, and one of the most important ones at that. It is one of the best preserved Stone Age settlements discovered to date, with a number of buildings uncovered, and the shape and size of streets established as well. However, its position, a few meters away from the coast line, threatens to be its undoing. Coastal erosion by the sea is pushing the cliffs inland, and the ancient buildings are in danger of being cast into the waters.

The situation is not one of its kind by far. There are literally thousands of ancient settlements, temples and other structures littered around the Scottish coastlines, which could only be discovered when they end up in the seas. Skara Brae is, at this point, only a few meters away from the coastline, and BBC News reporter Lorna Gordon has taken a trip to the region, to see what measures authorities are taking to prevent the valuable site from being lost forever.

Abandoned more than 5,000 years ago by its inhabitants, Skara is a testimony of how life in the Stone Age may have looked like for our ancestors. All the homes are constructed underground, so as to keep predators away, and to maximize protection. The living quarters follow approximately the same construction patterns, featuring bedrooms, “dressing rooms,” and common rooms, as well as underground passageways that link them with each other. This is a remarkable feat, and shows just how much emphasis was placed on security back then.

The Historic Scotland group is mostly in charge of conservation efforts. It set up coastal barriers in place, and built walls to prevent the soil from slipping into the sea. However, it says, there is no way of knowing just how much historically significant material was lost in the waters before archaeologists discovered the damage.

Now, efforts to keep the settlement going have been set in place, and are renewed every year. Major storms cause the most trouble, as they strip the coast wall of soil, and require the defenses to be constantly rebuilt.