Post by UKarchaeology on Sept 28, 2015 23:35:37 GMT
Archaeologists have made a major new discovery at a site nicknamed the "Bronze Age Skara Brae".
More than 30 buildings, middens and cemeteries all dating from between 4000 and 1000 BC have been found at the Links of Noltland on the isle of Westray in Orkney.
The settlement is being rapidly uncovered by the erosion of sand dunes which have kept it hidden since the prehistoric times.
On Tuesday, Historic Scotland revealed that archaeologists had uncovered a rare Bronze Age building known as a burnt mound, a building used for cooking.
Stones are likely to have been roasted in the hearth of the burnt house before being plunged into a tank and used to boil water, which may have been used for brewing, bathing and textiles as well as cooking.
The Neolithic settlement of Skara Brae on the Orkney mainland south of Westray contains the best-preserved group of prehistoric houses in Western Europe.
The world-famous site, which was uncovered by a storm in 1850, is around 5000 years old.
(pics & source at: news.stv.tv/north/1329656-rare-burnt-mound-discovered-at-bronze-age-skara-brae-on-westray-orkney/ )