This 5,000-Year-Old Tomb Is Spectacularly Preserved [Maeshowe, Orkney] [2:54]

The rest of the Orkney keyword, sorted:

Orkney set to say goodbye to the Ness of Brodgar [5:01] [08/13/2024]
UK islands could be about to defect to Norway after upcoming bombshell vote [07/02/2023]
Orkney's rare Viking sword has 'many stories to tell' [12/12/2021]
Archaeologists make 'astonishing' discovery of 5,000-year-old piece of wood in Orkney [08/15/2021]
Fingerprint from 5,000 years ago found in Orkney [05/03/2021]
Rare evidence of 5,000-year-old fabric discovered in Orkney [06/13/2020]
Human remains at ancient Pictish cemetery on Orkney exposed by storms [03/16/2020]
Scotland's crannogs are older than Stonehenge [06/16/2019]
Prehistoric mass graves may be linked to tsunamis, new research reveals [08/15/2018]
Medieval games board found in search for Pictish monastery [Hnefatafl] [07/15/2018]
Site of huge Iron Age feast celebration found on Orkney [03/20/2018]
British composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies dies aged 81 [03/14/2016]
ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNCOVER BRONZE AGE 'SAUNA HOUSE' IN ORKNEY [10/06/2015]
'Early Pictish Royal remains' discovered at Rhynie [09/15/2013]
Archaeologists discover 'finest ever' piece of Neolithic art...3,500BC (Scotland) [08/04/2013]
Third 5,000-year-old figurine found at Orkney dig [08/31/2012]
'Discovery of a lifetime': Stone Age temple found in Orkney is 800 years older than Stonehenge... [01/04/2012]
Dig team find proof there were Picts on the Brough of Deerness before the Vikings [10/12/2011]
Do survey results show a massive prehistoric monument under the water of the Stenness Loch? [10/10/2011]
'Incredibly exciting' rare pre-Ice Age handaxe discovered on Orkney [06/11/2011]
Digger finds Neolithic tomb complex (Orkney Islands) [10/31/2010]
Neolithic stone network found on Orkney [08/06/2010]
A second Venus found in Orkney as archeologists create history [07/19/2010]
On a mission to crack the Norse code [ Orkney ] [01/14/2010]
Archaeologists Try To Date The Brodgar Megaliths On Orkney [11/15/2008]
Orkney Islanders Have Siberian Relatives [05/23/2008]
Older Than The Pyramids, Buried For Centuries - Found By An Orkney Plumber [03/17/2008]
Neolithic Village Found In Orkney Sheds New Light On Stone Age Life [08/13/2007]
Viking voyage: The crew's diary [07/13/2007]
Archaeological Find Could Shed Light On Orkney's Past [05/21/2007]
Scotland's Orkneys tell ancient stories [11/05/2005]
Was Orkney The Ceremonial Capital Of Ancient Britain? [11/03/2003]
Genetic Survey Reveals Hidden Celts Of England [12/06/2001]

I hate cold. I can’t imagine why any sentient being would elect to live in Siberia. Or Point Barrow. I’ve been as far north as John O’ Groats, but the Orkneys were always just a few degrees (Fahrenheit & latitude) too far for comfort. To paraphrase Mark Twain, he coldest winter I’ve ever spent was a summer on the Isle of Skye.

But what amazes me about the Orneys is that Neolithic culture, the hinges and the like, spread south from there, not the other way around.

I hardly can imagine a more hostile environment this side of the moon, yet they obviuusly had a sophisticated civilization.

Buurrrrrr!

But why did Neolithic Britons go to such great lengths to build it?

After a long day hunting and gathering, they blew off steam hauling dirt and rocks around.

Seems pretty obvious since pubs and darts hadn’t been invented yet.

The Orkney people were unique in one other way. In the rest os Britain the population was replaced with male DNA from the continent and mated with original female DNA from the native Britons. In Orkney it was the other way around.

Map showing the proportions of Scandinavian and British/Irish ancestry for mtDNA (Mt) and Y-chromosomes (Y) for each of the admixed populations from the North Atlantic region included in this study. The Scottish island groups of Shetland, Orkney, the Western Isles and Skye, and the region that we define as the ‘North and West coast of Scotland’, are encircled for clarity.

Major events in the population history of the British Isles. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14230

https://stetson.substack.com/p/the-genetic-history-of-the-british

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-showing-the-proportions-of-Scandinavian-and-British-Irish-ancestry-for-mtDNA-Mt-and_fig1_7920315

The search continues.

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