 Orkney is a treasure trove of mysterious and fascinating ancient structures from the Neolithic periods. The first ancient marvel we will focus on is the Ring of Brodgar, a stone circle located on the largest island of Orkney, mainland. The structure is thought to have been constructed between 2500 and 2000 BC, over 4000 years ago. It is the only stone circle in Britain that is almost a perfect circle, stretching 104 meters wide, surrounded by a rock-cut ditch. It originally contained 60 megaliths, but only 27 of these stones remain today. It is the third largest stone circle in the British Isles currently, behind Avebury's stone circle in Wilkshire, England, and the Stanton-Drew stone circles in summer sets. You can only imagine the sense of awe the Ring of Brodgar must have inspired amongst the people of ancient Orkney. Needless to say, the Ring of Brodgar probably played a significant astrological, perhaps tracking the lunar cycle, religious and ceremonial role in Neolithic Orkney. The second structure I want to focus on is the stones of Stanness, Circle and Henge, perhaps the oldest Henge in the British Isles. The site is around 5000 years old, constructed between 3100 and 2900 BC, most likely older than Stone Henge, which was constructed between 3000 and 2000 BC. The stones of Stanness was originally a circle of 12 large upright standing stones, which were up to 6m in height. Today, four of these stones remain. As for its purpose, Historic Environment Scotland states that our best guess is that they were involved in activities and ceremonies, celebrating the relationship between living and past communities. Excavations have shown that our Neolithic ancestors ate and cooked food at the site. If you are enjoying this video, please consider supporting me on Patreon for as little as £2 a month, or donating below. All the links are in the description below. Thank you. The third structure we are going to look at is the maze Howe, Chambered Cairn, built around 2800 BC on mainland Orkney. It is a Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave, with its name having a partially Norse origin, as Howe comes from the Old Norse for Hill. Maze Howe has similarities to the famous New Grange tomb in Ireland, which I have made a video on before, potentially suggesting a link between the two cultures. Similar to New Grange, Maze Howe is astrologically aligned, as Historic Environment Scotland's website states, for the three weeks before and after the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. The light of the setting sun shines straight down the passage and illuminates the back of the central chamber. The suns raise a line with the Burnhouse stone, a standing stone southwest of Maze Howe. Thousands of years after it was built, Norsemen broke into the Maze Howe Cairn, inscribing graffiti on the walls. Orkney itself was under Scandinavian control until the late 15th century. The village of Skara Brae is the fourth and final ancient structure that we are going to focus on, situated on the west coast of mainland Orkney. This stone-built settlement consists of 10 houses, home to stone beds and cupboards. They even had a primitive sewer system, with the houses having early forms of toilets and drains. Occupied from around 3200 to 2500 BC, Skara Brae is one of Europe's best preserved Neolithic villages. The people we occupied Skara Brae were not just hunter and gatherers, some argued that they farm crops such as wheat and barley, and weird animals such as sheep, cattle and pigs. The village was only uncovered in 1850, but in a huge storm blew the sand dune and earth that was masking the settlement. Along with numerous other attractions, Orkney serves as a time machine to explore the Neolithic civilisation that flourished on the archipelago. Thanks for watching. If you would like to support this work, through Patreon buy me a coffee dot com or make a donation through PayPal. Please do so via the links in the description below. Please remember to subscribe and hit the bell and I'll speak to you soon.