Moving among the monuments.

Passage directed, guided

Constrained

And ordered

Entrance guarded

As with knowledge.

An ordered landscape

In past as in present

Feet directed

To the important places

Gaze averted

From the spaces in-between.

Ancient and modern

Intertwined

Touching the past

But separated still

‘Stand back’ ‘Don’t go there’

‘Ancient monument that way’.

Approaching sacred space

On pilgrimage paths well trod

To stand

To gaze

To move among the monuments

And then to depart.

All images were taken during two visits to the Orkney Islands last summer. For more information about Orkney itself and its amazing archaeology see http://www.orkneyjar.com/index.html or http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/index/heritage/worldheritage/world-heritage-sites-in-scotland/neolithic-orkney.htm

The archaeology on Orkney is truly amazing, but as I walked around the monuments last summer my thoughts turned to the control and directionality exercised by the way in which the monuments are set out and fenced in. My experience was very much directed and often the fences…