Skara Brae

Skara Brae /ˈskærə ˈbreɪ/ is a stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, the largest island in the Orkney archipelago of Scotland. It consists of eight clustered houses, and was occupied from roughly 3180 BC–2500 BC. Europe's most complete Neolithic village, Skara Brae gained UNESCO World Heritage Site status as one of four sites making up "The Heart of Neolithic Orkney." Older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids, it has been called the "Scottish Pompeii" because of its excellent preservation.

Discovery and early exploration

In the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll known as "Skerrabra". When the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the local laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after four houses were uncovered, the work was abandoned in 1868. The site remained undisturbed until 1913, when during a single weekend the site was plundered by a party with shovels who took away an unknown quantity of artifacts. In 1924, another storm swept away part of one of the houses and it was determined the site should be made secure and more seriously investigated. The job was given to University of Edinburgh's Professor Vere Gordon Childe who travelled to Skara Brae for the first time in mid-1927.

Ultima (series)

Ultima is a series of open world fantasy role-playing video games from Origin Systems, Inc. Ultima was created by Richard Garriott, a.k.a. Lord British. Several games of the series are considered seminal entries in their genre. Electronic Arts currently holds the brand.

Games

The main Ultima series consists of nine installments (the seventh title is further divided into two parts) grouped into three trilogies, or "Ages": The Age of Darkness (Ultima I-III), The Age of Enlightenment (Ultima IV-VI), and The Age of Armageddon (Ultima VII-IX). The last is also sometimes referred to as "The Guardian Saga" after its chief antagonist. The first trilogy is set in a fantasy world named Sosaria, but during the cataclysmic events of The Age of Darkness, it is sundered and three quarters of it vanish. What is left becomes known as Britannia, a realm ruled by the benevolent Lord British, and is where the later games mostly take place. The protagonist in all the games is a canonically male resident of Earth who is called upon by Lord British to protect Sosaria and, later, Britannia from a number of dangers. Originally, the player character was referred to as "the Stranger", but by the end of Ultima IV he becomes universally known as the Avatar.

Skara Brae (album)

Skara Brae is an album of Irish traditional music by the group Skara Brae. Released by Gael-Linn Records in 1971, the self-titled album contains "beautifully performed Gaelic songs" and is considered one of the most important albums in its genre, notable as the first recording to include vocal harmonization in Irish language songs.

Track listing

Original 1971 album

In 1971, Skara Brae released one self-titled album on Gael-Linn Records (CEF 031) with the following track listing:

Taobh 1

Taobh 2

Reissued 1998 CD

In 1998, the album was reissued by Gael-Linn on CD (CEFCD 031) with the following track listing:

Skara Brae (disambiguation)

Skara Brae is a Neolithic settlement in Orkney, Scotland.

Skara Brae may also refer to:

Skara Brae (band)

Skara Brae were an Irish traditional music group from Kells, County Meath with origins in Ranafast (Rann na Feirste), County Donegal. The group consisted of three siblings, Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, and Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill, with Dáithí Sproule from Derry.

Origin

Though brought up in County Meath, the Ó Domhnaill siblings had their roots in Ranafast (Rann na Feirste), where their father's family originated. Mícheál, Maighread, and Tríona came together with Dáithí during Irish language summer schools held in Rannafast during the late 1960s and subsequently formed the band Skara Brae while Triona and Maighread were still attending school. Mícheál and Dáithí were attending University College Dublin and performed in the city over the next year.

History

Unique album

In 1971, Skara Brae released Skara Brae, a self-titled album of "beautifully performed Gaelic songs" on Gael-Linn Records. It is considered one of the most important albums in its genre, notable as the first recording to include vocal harmonization in Irish language songs.

Skara

Skara is a locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18,580 inhabitants in 2013. Despite its small size, it is one of the oldest cities in Sweden, and has a long educational and ecclesiastical history. One of Sweden's oldest high schools, Katedralskolan (cathedral school), is situated in Skara.

Geography

Skara is located by the E20 motorway, about 130 km (81 mi) northeast of Gothenburg, in the centre of Västergötland.

Climate

Skara had a humid continental climate for the reference period of 1961–1990, but has since more resembled an oceanic climate, heavily influenced by maritime moderation in spite of its inland position. Its proximity to Kattegat and lake Vänern contributes to summers being slightly cooler than areas to the north-east, and winter temperatures mostly hover around the freezing point.

History

According to local legend, Skara was founded in AD 988, making it one of the oldest cities of Sweden. It was one of only two cities in what was to become Västergötland, the other being Lödöse. Skara was the location for the regional assembly, the Thing of all Geats.

Skaracarida

Skara is a genus of maxillopod crustacean known from the Upper Cambrian Orsten deposit of Sweden and similarly aged deposits in China. It is the only genus in the order Skaracarida, and contains three species:

The feeding system of Skara resembles those of copepods and Derocheilocaris, and the three taxa are accordingly grouped together as the clade Copepodoida.Skara is likely to have scraped or brushed the substrate to release food.

References