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The geology of the Orkney islands in northern Scotland is dominated by the Devonian Old Red Sandstone (ORS). In the southwestern part of Mainland , this sequence can be seen to rest unconformably on a Moinian type metamorphic basement .
The Group comprises the Upper Eday Sandstone Formation, Eday Marl Formation, Middle Eday Sandstone Formation, Eday Flagstone Formation, Lower Eday Sandstone Formation and the Hoy Sandstone Formation laid down in the shallow Orcadian Basin during the Givetian stage of the Devonian period. The sediments vary from fluvial to lacustrine to lagoonal.
The assemblage of monumental Neolithic structures in Orkney is without parallel in the United Kingdom, and the Orkney Mainland provides an entire landscape of features from this period. During this time, complex new societies came to the fore that were a radical departure from the earlier hunter-gatherers and which were capable of creating ...
The Dwarfie Stane is the only chambered tomb in Orkney that is cut from stone rather than built from stones [5] and may be the only example of a Neolithic rock-cut tomb in Britain. [6] However, despite its unique construction, its plan is consistent with the so-called Orkney-Cromarty class of chambered tomb found throughout Orkney.
In 1564 Lord Robert Stewart, natural son of James V of Scotland, who had visited Kirkwall twenty-four years before, was made sheriff of Orkney and Shetland, and received possession of the estates of the udallers; in 1581 he was created earl of Orkney by James VI, the charter being ratified ten years later to his son Patrick, but after Patrick's ...
The eponymous Skaill knife was a commonly used tool in Skara Brae; it consists of a large stone flake, with a sharp edge used for cutting, knocked off a sandstone cobble. [46] This neolithic tool is named after Skara Brae's location in the Bay of Skaill on Orkney. [47] Skaill knives have been found throughout Orkney and Shetland.
The Yesnaby Sandstone Group is a Devonian lithostratigraphic group (a sequence of rock strata) in west Mainland Orkney, Scotland. The name is derived from the locality of Yesnaby where the strata are exposed in coastal cliffs.
The island's geology is Old Red Sandstone of the Devonian period, with two volcanic faults. On the north coast there is granite-schist, a great rarity in Orkney. Graemsay is surrounded by strong tidal races, known locally as roosts. An Orkney Ferries service, usually operated by MV Graemsay, links the island with Stromness and Moaness on Hoy.