Neolithic Period

Furniture and Furnishings 3(1+2)

Lesson 02: Furniture Style

Neolithic Period

A range of unique stone furniture has been excavated in Skara gBrae a Neolithic village, located in Orkney, Scotland. The site dates from 3100-2500BC and due to the shortage of wood in Orkney, the people of Skara Brae were forced to build with stone, a readily available material that could be worked easily and turned into items for use within the household. Each house shows a high degree of sophistication and was equipped with an extensive assortment of stone furniture, ranging from cupboards, dressers and beds to shelves, stone seats, and limpet tanks. The stone dressers were regarded as the most important as it symbolically faces the entrance in each house and is therefore the first item seen when entering, perhaps displaying symbolic objects, including decorative artwork such as several Neolithic Carved Stone Balls also found at the site.

Index
Previous
Home
Next
Last modified: Saturday, 17 March 2012, 4:52 AM