Sammy's Temple

A fine calm morning, mist towards the south.  Cloudy day but sunny too, lovely and warm.  Fairly windy most of the day, still warm tonight.

Up early, managed to get two loads of washing out.  Met friend Julie for walkies.  Headed into Lerwick at lunchtime, picked up more cement for tomorrow.  Headed out for a walk in the afternoon.  Been to the peat hill this evening.  Very slow drying this year, but getting there.  Nipped to the supermarket, now feet up.

It's been a lot of years since I was last here, think it's a first for Sammy.  The settlement at Stanydale was the centre of a farming community from 3000- 2000 BC. The remains include several ruined houses and the low, massive, walls of a substantial hall, or 'temple' perhaps used for ceremonies and rituals.  When excavated in 1949 this Neolithic building was thought to be a temple. This was due to similarities in its size and plan to Maltese and other Mediterranean temples of a similar date.  What is certain is that it was quite a feat to build. Stones of a suitable size and shape (some weighing around 300kg) are rare in this location and may have been brought some distance. Inside are two large postholes that contained charred spruce. In each hole two upright timbers were lashed together to give adequate strength to support a large roof. Even 4,000 years ago trees were rare in Shetland and spruce was not native to Shetland or to Scotland. At least some of the timber must have been imported from Scandinavia or, more likely, gathered as driftwood.  Archaeologists have estimated that the roof would have required 700 metres of finished timber.  Sammy at the heel-shaped Stanydale Temple, Sandsting.