Skara Brae is a seaside Neolithic settlement on the Scottish Orkney Islands, which are situated in the far north of the country. The relatively small Skara Brae was inhabited between 3100 and 2600 B.C.E., thousands of years after Near Eastern settlements such as Jericho and Çatal Huyuk, and was constructed of stone due to the lack of timber on the islands. Whereas other populations on the British Isles did not settle until nearly the Bronze Age, evidence of settled life at Skara Brae includes discoveries of cooking tools, decorated pottery, and stone-carved furniture such as beds and dressers. The fact that stone was a primary building material resulted in uniquely well-preserved examples of Neolithic art and architecture in Northern Europe.