Religion and belief

Like funerary custom, a lack of evidence means there is little that can be said for certain about the religious beliefs of the Iron Age Orcadians.

However, from discoveries made at brochs and ongoing work at Minehowe, as well as evidence from other areas of Scotland, we can make some suppositions.

The beliefs of the Iron Age Orcadians probably survived to a certain extent in some of the customs and traditions of Orkney until recent years.

The Iron Age inhabitants of the isles probably believed in a number of gods, or spirits, who affected their everyday lives in various different ways - from calming storms to working metals and ensuring bountiful crops.

They may also have had a particular affinity to water - particularly springs, pools or lochs. Throughout the British Isles we have evidence of artefacts being ritually thrown into bodies of water, presumably as offerings of some sort.

These water-logged discoveries are borne out by the Roman accounts which confirm that the people of north-western Europe revered bodies of water, considering them to be "gateways" to their gods. These customs appear to have been present in Orkney, with a number of spectacular items found in areas of marshy ground in Tankerness.

These water-cults may have some connection to the "wells" found in a number of brochs, most notably Gurness, and, of course, the underground chamber of Minehowe.