STONE AGE FARMERS BESIDE THE SEA

A fascinating look at ``one of Europe's oldest known and best preserved prehistoric villages,'' inhabited from 3100 to 2500 b.c., in northern Scotland's Orkney Islands. Arnold (Stories in Stone, 1996, etc.) relates how the city, predating the Egyptian pyramids, was buried by sand and rediscovered following a storm 150 years ago. This ancient settlement provides a slice of human history when people made tools with stone or bone and began to live in settled communities.'' Accompanied by the clear, informative, full-color photos, Arnold's narrative deftly recounts the design of the stone houses, how they were built, the daily life of the farming inhabitants, how this prehistoric period of Orkney history ends, and why Skara Brae remains of lasting significance. Readers will be impressed by the details of the painstaking work of archeologists to uncover and preserve this ancient site. (maps, diagrams, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 8-11)