The Ring of Brodgar is a Neolithic henge and stone circle monument that is located on a thin peninsula known as the Ness of Brodgar. A bridge or causeway has been located in this area for at least the last 1,000 years. Brodgar comes from the name of a farm that is situated near the causeway, which is itself a combination of the Old Norse words for bridge (brúar) and farm (garðr).

The Barnhouse Settlement, a prehistoric village similar to Skara Brae, can be found a short distance north of the Stones of Stenness. Barnhouse was occupied for 300 years from around 3100-2800 BCE.

The Stones of Stenness are a Neolithic monument that contains both a henge, possibly the oldest in all of Britain and Ireland, and a stone circle. Stenness, pronounced “Stane-is” in the Orcadian dialect, comes from the Old Norse Stein-nes, which means “stone headland.”

Skara Brae is only one of a remarkable collection of Neolithic sites that can be seen while touring the Orkney Islands of Scotland. During our brief visit to the Mainland of Orkney, we had the opportunity to visit four other incredible prehistoric monuments: the Stones of Stenness; the Barnhouse Settlement; the Ring of Brodgar; as well as the Maeshowe chambered cairn and passage grave.

For centuries, the western coastline of Mainland, Orkney held a secret. It had been enveloped first by layers of sand, and then covered by grass. The secret slept contentedly for a long time, resting a comfortable distance away from the rolling tides of the North Atlantic Ocean.