A range of unique stone furniture has been excavated in Skara Brae a Neolithic village, located in Orkney, Scotland. The site dates from 3100-2500BC and due to a shortage of wood in Orkney, the people of Skara Brae were forced to build with stone, a readily available material that could be worked easily and turned into items for use within the household. Each house shows a high degree of sophistication and was equipped with an extensive assortment of stone furniture, ranging from cupboards, dressers and beds to shelves, stone seats and limpet tanks. [[1]] The stone dressers were regarded as the most important as it symbolically faces the entrance in each house and is therefore the Media Storage Cabinets first item seen when entering, perhaps displaying symbolic objects, including decorative artwork such as several Neolithic Carved Stone Balls also found at the site.
This design was in many ways rooted in necessity and emphasizes both form and materials. Early American chairs and tables are often constucted with turned spindles and chair backs often constructed with steaming to bend the wood. Wood choices tend to be decidious hardwoods with a particular emphasis on the wood of edible or fruit bearing trees such as Cherry or Walnut.
