Jarlshof is just about the most inspirational archaeological site in Scotland. That may seem an extravagant description in a country that has Maes Howe and, especially, Skara Brae. But while Skara Brae brings to life a moment in our remote past, Jarlshof shows you each of the steps that link an almost as remote moment in our past to an era whose buildings still stand around us. It is almost as if, some 4500 years ago, someone set aside a piece of land and declared that its purpose was to provide future generations with examples of every important form of habitation used by the people of the day. The result is, on one site, overlapping examples of housing from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Pictish, Norse and Medieval eras, right the way through to the 1600s.