Stromness, Scotland
The Orkney Islands have a treasure trove of prehistoric sites. Many of these are preserved in the Heart of Neolithic Orkney UNESCO World Heritage Site. We spent a day in the Orkney Islands visiting a few of these sites, including Skara Brae and the Ring of Brodgar, and finishing at the Stones of Stenness.
Rick Steves writes about the Standing Stones of Stenness in his Scotland guidebook, mentioning that there are only three and a half stones out of an original twelve. The stones are a millennium older than Stonehenge, and according to Historic Environment Scotland, they may be the oldest henge monument in the British Isles. People placed these stones about 5,400 years ago. Authorities are not 100% sure of the stones’ function, but they believe people used them in ceremonies linking present and past generations. One thing is certain: people cooked and prepared meals at the Stones of Stenness, as archaeologists have found old pottery and animal remains there.
Getting to the stones is pretty easy, as they are located directly off the B9055, halfway between Skara Brae and Kirkwall and a very short distance from the Ring of Brogdar. There is no cost to visit the site, and a large car park can handle the tour-bus traffic that runs tours to multiple sites in the Orkney Islands. Unlike some sites, tourists can touch the remaining stones here. After a day of touring, my crowd was wiped out, so I had a little time to myself with the stones, pondering their age and how, for thousands of years, people have come here to view them as part of the landscape.
Uncle Rick includes the Stones of Stenness in his two-triangle, Try Hard to See rating of the ‘Prehistoric Sites near Maeshowe’ section of his Scotland guidebook. We did not get to see Maeshowe on this trip, but knowing there are similar sites on the Orkney Islands makes returning to these fascinating islands more appealing. The Stones of Stenness, however, allow people to get up close and intimate with their long-ago ancestors. While they may have had different practices, I would like to think they still shared many of our hopes and dreams as humans, including spending time with loved ones, enjoying a zest for good food and entertainment, and wanting to secure a life even better for their children than what they have secured for themselves. Touching a stone placed by a human over 5,000 years ago is a powerful experience I recommend to help you appreciate the people who, in their own way, helped make modern life possible.