As technology has advanced over the years, it has given humans the ability to discover parts of our past that many have thought lost forever. We are able to analyze items from our early ancestors and gain quite a bit of information about how they used to live. It makes for a very fascinating area of study, and there is so much we can learn. Sometimes though, we make startling discoveries about ancient humans by literal accidents. That’s what happened with the lost city of Skara Brae in Scotland. This place is full of amazing history, and was only discovered because a farmer was moving stones.
In 1850, a farmer moved aside a rock on the island of Orkney, and made an absolutely amazing discovery.
He took a few steps inside and still couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. After a little more exploration though, it was definitely a hidden city!
The name of the settlement was Skara Brae, and this place was definitely old. About 5,000 years to be exact, making it older than the great pyramids.
The entire city was covered in sand dunes. This allowed the city to be exquisitely preserved.
The people who studied it believe it is one of the oldest permanent settlements in Great Britain.
Even though it was well-preserved, part of the settlement was destroyed. There are only about 8 houses left now, and researchers believe it was home to 50 to 100 people.
All the houses that were uncovered had a tunnel system that connected them together. The tunnels could be shut using large stone doors however for privacy.
Each hut had multiple sleeping spaces, with one that was larger than the rest. This was presumably for the heads of the house.
Each one of these homes had a waterproof storage bin inside. This lends to the theory that the villagers kept live fish in their homes, and that their diet consisted of mostly fish.
This place is absolutely incredible! This place has so much to offer historians, and there is plenty to be learned about the way ancient humans adapted to their surroundings. It’s crazy to think that a farmer moving a stone is responsible for one of the oldest civilization finds in history! It’s awesome how well this place was preserved. Maybe there are other villages hidden under the sand around this one!