Knap of Howar

The Knap of Howar on the island of Papa Westray in Orkney, Scotland, is a Neolithic farmstead which may be the oldest preserved stone house in northern Europe [1]. Radiocarbon dating shows that it was occupied from 3800 BC to 2800 BC, earlier than the similar houses in the settlement at Skara Brae on the Orkney Mainland [1]. The farmstead consists of two adjacent rounded rectangular thick-walled stone buildings with very low doorways facing the sea [1]. The larger and older structure is linked by a low passageway to the other building, which has been interpreted as a workshop or a second house [1]. They were constructed on an earlier midden, and were surrounded by midden material which has protected them [1]. There are no windows; the structures were presumably lit by fire, with a hole in the roof to let out smoke [1]. Though they now stand close to the shore, they would have originally lain inland [1]. The stone walls of the buildings are preserved; and while the roof is missing, it was likely made of wood and thatched or turfed [1].