period of Egypt (first and second dynasties), the brick temples of Sumeria, and the first cities of the Harappa culture in India, and a century or two earlier than the Golden Age of China. Unusually fine for their early date, and with a remarkably rich survival of evidence, these sites stand as a visible symbol of the achievements of early peoples away from the traditional centres of civilisation...Stenness is a unique and early expression of the ritual customs of the people who buried their dead in tombs like Maes Howe and lived in settlements like Skara Brae. References Bibliography Scotland Before History - Stuart Piggott, Edinburgh University Press 1982, Scotland's Hidden History - Ian Armit, Tempus (in association with Historic Scotland) 1998, Guide to Prehistoric Scotland - Richard Feachem, B.T. Batsford Ltd. 1977, Scotland, Archaeology and Early History - Graham and Anna Ritchie, Edinburgh University Press 1997, Building the great stone circles of the north - Colin Richards, Windgather Press 2013 The Stones of Stenness, Orkney - J N Graham Ritchie, available as pdf here (download requires acceptance of terms) External links 4th-millennium BC architecture in Scotland Archaeological sites in Orkney Prehistoric Orkney Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Orkney Stone Age sites in Scotland World Heritage Sites in Scotland Megalithic monuments in Scotland Historic Scotland properties in Orkney Neolithic Scotland Stone circles in Orkney Mainland, Orkney Heart of Neolithic Orkney