Geodiversity and cultural heritage case study: Orkney

The Orkney archipelago is a series of low, ice-moulded islands formed predominantly of Devonian sandstones rising above the waters of the North Atlantic. These "whale islands", as described by George Mackay Brown, are notable for their dramatic coastal scenery of cliffs and sandy beaches shaped under a predominantly rising Holocene sea level.

People have been an integral part of the postglacial landscape of Orkney, attracted by fertile soils and rich maritime resources. However, the early Mesolithic hunter-gatherers would have encountered a rather different landscape, with sea level perhaps 30m lower and more woodland.

Later Neolithic settlers have left a remarkable archaeological legacy in the form of stone monuments, burial sites and settlements now inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. They include the symbolic use of monolithic slabs of sandstone at the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar, and the magnificent chambered cairn of Maeshowe with its entrance passage aligned with the setting sun at the winter solstice. George MacKay Brown eloquently described the builder of Maeshowe as "a poet in stone".

Skara Brae, a Neolithic village exposed by coastal erosion, reveals the skilled use of local stone both to build the houses and internally in the furniture. Later Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements also demonstrate considerable masonry skills, notably in the construction of the Iron Age brochs.

The magnificent St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, dating from the early 12th century, is a further monument to the continuity of the cultural tradition of stone architecture in Orkney. It is built of local red Devonian sandstone, with yellow sandstone from Eday used for decorative effects.