Kathleen Jamie - Surfacing

Essays from a poet, reflecting on past and present. My favourites were the two descriptions of archaeology digs. Who lived there in the past, who lives nearby now?

#archaeology #travel #books #Quinhagak #Alaska #Noltland #Orkney #history

I could never quite believe that Neolithic people came to Orkney by boat.
As it is thought that they brought cattle and sheep with them, I could not envisage any animal, or any human, surviving a sea crossing of any British tidal waters in any prehistoric vessel.
Standard sources tie themselves in knots to persuade us that Neolithic people had boats that could carry beasts of both sexes that, once landed, would reproduce and help their tribe to survive on the unknown territory across the dangerous waters.
However, evidence has recently emerged that added another dimension to the problem. It was discovered that the Orkney Vole, a species that is unique to the archipelago, had been found by DNA analysis, to originate from northern Europe, and that it was not directly related to the common vole in Britain. (Thomas Cucchi et al)
This meant that the animal that arrived in Orkney did not pass through England, Wales or Scotland.
A vole arriving in Orkney, from Europe, without passing through Britain was a clue that all was not as it seems, and that in spite of the insistence of some that voles may have been carried as pets or food items, another possibility was probably more likely.
I therefore rather assumed that it must be necessary to question what places were passable around the coasts of Neolithic Britain, which areas were land, and which places were water, and when did land areas stop being land.
It is understood that much of the southern North Sea area was land at some point in the past. A piece of shallow sea called Dogger Bank has been named Doggerland as artefacts of 8000 years of age, and older, are frequently dredged up there. The rise in sea level which has occurred since the last ice age has clearly flooded lands here, but which lands, where, and when?
The obvious location, or so I thought, for a route to Orkney from Europe , that would be passable for small rodents, on foot, and avoiding England and Scotland, would be somewhere in the middle of the North Sea which, of course, is a bizarre idea.
Indeed, it was such a bizarre idea that I followed it, to see where it took me.
The result of my research can be seen in my blog:-

http://orkneyriddler.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-orkney-riddle.html

#Orkney #Neolithic #archaeology #prehistory #Brodgar #nessofbrodgar #Skara #skarabrae  #barnhouse #knapofhowar #linksofnoltland #Noltland #cairns #Maeshowe

Noltland Castle on the island of Westray in Orkney, remarkable for being home to 71 gunloops. It was built in the 1560s by Gilbert Balfour, Sheriff of Orkney and a man whose approach to politics earned him many mortal enemies. More pics and info: https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/westray/noltlandcastle/index.html

#Scotland #NoltlandCastle #Westray #Orkney #Castle #Noltland #UndiscoveredScotland

Noltland Castle on the island of Westray in Orkney, remarkable for being home to 71 gunloops. It was built in the 1560s by Gilbert Balfour, Sheriff of Orkney and a man whose approach to politics earned him many mortal enemies. More pics and info: https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/westray/noltlandcastle/index.html

#Scotland #NoltlandCastle #Westray #Orkney #Castle #Noltland #UndiscoveredScotland