Sustainable Spaces Overview

Study Notes

Sustainable Spaces - Week Six Overview

Focus on comparisons within your essay using themes such as symbolism, means of production, location, materiality, access, context, internal layout, function, scale, sustainability, cost, and governance.
Engage with tutors to refine themes for your specific comparative analysis.

Skara Brae

Neolithic settlement on the Island of Orkney, Scotland, lasting from 3085 to 2345 BCE, known for cycles of settlement and abandonment.
Settled in a challenging environment faced with natural disasters and extreme weather, necessitating adaptability and resilience.
Inhabitants engaged in fishing, animal husbandry, and agriculture, growing wheat and barley using limited resources such as stone, driftwood, and whale bones.
People raised sheep using seaweed as fodder due to the scarcity of large trees for timber.

Cultural Insights

Use of metal tools evidenced by inscriptions found on stone walls, indicating cultural expression and adaptation to their environment.
One inscription reflects the community's struggle against severe weather and the impact on livestock.

Phase One (3085 – 2870 BCE)

Architectural features included round, walled buildings grouped together with low roofs designed to resist high winds.
Waste materials served a dual purpose as insulation and wind barriers.
The settlement was abandoned following a significant catastrophe affecting the wider region, suggesting an interconnected environmental crisis.

Phase Two (2800 – 2665 BCE)

Settlement was reoccupied, with new structures built upon earlier foundations, indicating a recovery and change in cultural practices.
Transition from round to semi-rectangular houses allowed for better interior space utilization and communal living via shared walls.
Villages featured underground passages and centralised drainage systems, showcasing advances in architectural design.
Final abandonment occurred due to catastrophic flooding.

Phase Three (2550 – 2345 BCE)

After a century, another group reoccupied and restored the village, repairing roofs and clearing rubble significantly impacted by environmental disasters.
Eruption of volcanic Mount Hekla disrupted ecological systems across multiple countries, causing extensive destruction, climate change, and subsequent flooding of Skara Brae.

Rapa Nui

Known as Easter Island; settled during the final wave of Polynesian migration.
Contextually significant for understanding sustainable practices and the impacts of isolation on societal development.

Description

Explore the themes of symbolism, materiality, and governance as you analyze the Neolithic settlement of Skara Brae. This quiz delves into the adaptability and resilience of its inhabitants using limited resources in a challenging environment. Engage with tutors to refine your comparative analysis skills.