Heart of Neolithic Orkney refers to a group of

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

monuments found on the

Mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

of the Orkney Islands,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The name was adopted by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

when it proclaimed these sites as a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

in December 1999. The site of patrimony currently consists of four sites: # Maes Howe – a unique chambered cairn and

passage grave A passage grave or passage tomb consists of one or more burial chambers covered in earth or with stone, and having a narrow access passage made of large stones. These structures usually date from the Neolithic Age, and are found largely in Wester ...

, aligned so that its central chamber is illuminated on the

winter solstice The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winter ...

. It was looted by

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...

who left one of the largest collections of

runic Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised ...

inscriptions in the world. # Standing Stones of Stenness – the four remaining

megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

s of a

henge There are three related types of Neolithic earthwork that are all sometimes loosely called henges. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ...

, the largest of which is 6 metres (19 ft) high. #

Ring of Brodgar The Ring of Brodgar (or Brogar, or Ring o' Brodgar) is a Neolithic henge and stone circle about 6 miles north-east of Stromness on Mainland, the largest island in Orkney, Scotland. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the He ...

– a stone circle 104 metres in diameter, originally composed of 60 stones set within a circular ditch up to 3 metres deep and 10 metres wide, forming a henge monument. It has been estimated that the structure took 80,000 man-hours to construct. #

Skara Brae Skara Brae is a stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, the largest island in the Orkney archipelago of Scotland. Consisting of ten clustered houses, made of flagstones, in earthen dams ...

– a cluster of eight houses making up Northern Europe’s best-preserved Neolithic village. MapNeolithicHeart

Ness of Brodgar The Ness of Brodgar is an archaeological site covering between the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness in the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site in Orkney, Scotland. Excavations at the site began in 2003. The site has provided ...

is an archaeological site between the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness that has provided evidence of housing, decorated stone slabs, a massive stone wall with foundations, and a large building described as a Neolithic "cathedral".Towrie, Sigurd (16 August 2007
"Stone wall hints at Neolithic spiritual barrier "
Orkneyjar. Retrieved 10 September 2014.Ross, John and Hartley, David (14 August 2009
" 'Cathedral' as old as Stonehenge unearthed."
Edinburgh. ''The Scotsman''. Retrieved 16 August 2009. Although it is not part of the World Heritage Site, the Ness of Brodgar "contribute greatly to our understanding of the WHS" according to Historic Scotland, which manages most of the site. In 2008, UNESCO expressed concern about plans by the local council to "erect three large 72 metres wind turbines to the north-west of the Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brogdar" that might damage the site. In 2019, a risk assessment was performed to assess the site's vulnerability to climate change. The report by

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...

, the

Orkney Islands Council The Orkney Islands Council ( gd, Comhairle Eileanan Arcaibh), is the local authority for Orkney, Scotland. It was established in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and was largely unaffected by the Scottish local government changes ...

and others concludes that the entire World Heritage Site, and in particular Skara Brae, is "extremely vulnerable" to climate change due to

rising sea levels Rising may refer to: * Rising, a stage in baking - see Proofing (baking technique) *Elevation * Short for Uprising, a rebellion Film and TV * "Rising" (''Stargate Atlantis''), the series premiere of the science fiction television program ''Starga ...

, increased rainfall and other factors; it also highlights the risk that Skara Brae could be partially destroyed by one unusually severe storm. The first application of the Climate Vulnerability Index to a Cultural World Heritage property took place at the Heart of Neolithic Orkney in April 2019.

References and footnotes

;General references * ;Specific references and notes {{World Heritage Sites in the United Kingdom 1999 establishments in Scotland World Heritage Sites in Scotland Archaeological sites in Orkney Prehistoric Orkney Scheduled monuments in Scotland Stone Age sites in Scotland Neolithic Scotland Mainland, Orkney

See also

References and footnotes