Skara Brae is a group of eight, prehistoric houses. Around 5,000 thousand years ago about 50 people lived in them. The village sits on the shores of the north Atlantic Ocean. It is in the country of Scotland. Scientists have learned much about the people who lived here. The houses had one big room with a fireplace. There is evidence that people had made furniture such as dressers. To feed themselves they raised cows, sheep, and caught fish in the ocean. The houses were built into the earth to protect them from the cold winter. For an unknown reason the people left in a hurry. What they left behind has fascinated scientists.