[00:02.10]And the villagers were real neighbours,
[00:03.70]living cheek by jowl, their houses connected by walled,
[00:07.89]sometimes decorated alleyways.
[00:09.58]It's not too much for a stretch to imagine gossip travelling down
[00:13.98]those alleyways after a hearty seafood supper.
[00:21.62]We have, in other words,
[00:22.58]everything you could possibly want from a village except a church and a pub.
[00:30.96]In 3,000 BC, the sea and the air were a little warmer than they are now.
[00:36.28]And once they'd settled in their sandstone houses,
[00:39.31]they could harvest red bream and mussels and oysters
[00:42.98]that were abundant in the shallows.
[00:58.57]Cattle provided meat and milk,
[01:00.37]and dogs were kept for hunting and for company.
[01:03.02]During the Neolithic centuries
[01:05.17]there would have been at least a dozen little houses here,
[01:07.27]half-dug into the ground for comfort and for safety.
[01:11.69]A thriving, bustling little community of 50 or 60.
[01:20.01]But the real miracle of Skara Brae
[01:21.89]is that these houses were not mere shelters.
[01:24.93]They were built by people who had culture, who had style.
[01:33.07]And here's where they showed off that style.
[01:36.15]The fully equipped, all-purpose Neolithic living room,
[01:39.79]complete with luxuries and necessities.