Neolithic occupation of the Orkney Islands, in the north of Scotland, probably began in the mid fourth millennium cal BC, culminating in a range of settlements, including stone-built houses, varied stone-built tombs and two noteworthy stone circles. The environmental and landscape context of the spectacular archaeology, however, remains poorly understood. We applied the Multiple Scenario Approach (MSA) to Neolithic pollen records from Mainland, Orkney, in order to understand land cover and landscape openness across the timespan 4200–2200 cal BC. Interpreted within a framework provided by Bayesian chronological modelling, 406 radiocarbon dates from archaeological contexts and a further 103 from palaeoenvironmental samples provide the basis for the first detailed reconstruction of the spatio-temporal patterns of Neolithic people and their environment. Major alterations to the land cover of Mainland took place from 3400 cal BC (reduction in woodland from 20% to 10%) and from 3200 cal BC (increase in disturbed land from 3% to 30%). The dramatic increase in disturbed land coincided with the Grooved Ware phenomenon and the establishment of settlements at Skara Brae and Ness of Brodgar. The upturn in the signal for disturbance communities in the pollen record may indicate an increase in the amount of land used as pasture. This accords with the archaeological record, since the Neolithic Orcadian economy probably relied heavily on cattle for subsistence. By 2800 cal BC in the core of the Orkney Mainland, most settlements appear to have been ending, with people dispersing into the wider landscape, as the MSA modelling indicates a maintenance of disturbed land, and indeed a subsequent slight increase, implying persistence of human activity elsewhere in Mainland. People exhausted themselves rather than their land; that and its varied resources endured, while the intensive social relationships and practices of the peak of late Neolithic Orkney could not be maintained.

新石器时代对苏格兰北部奥克尼群岛的占领可能始于公元前四千年中期，最终形成了一系列定居点，包括石头建造的房屋、各种石头建造的坟墓和两个值得注意的石圈。然而，人们对这一壮观考古遗址的环境和景观背景仍然知之甚少。我们对奥克尼群岛大陆的新石器时代花粉记录应用了多情景方法 (MSA)，以便了解公元前 4200 年至 2200 年期间的土地覆盖和景观开放度。在贝叶斯年代模型提供的框架内进行解释，来自考古环境的 406 个放射性碳测年数据和来自古环境样本的另外 103 个放射性碳测年数据为首次详细重建新石器时代人类及其环境的时空模式提供了基础。大陆土地覆盖的重大变化发生在公元前 3400 年（林地从 20% 减少到 10%）和公元前 3200 年（受干扰土地从 3% 增加到 30%）。受干扰土地的急剧增加与槽器现象以及斯卡拉布雷和布罗德加内斯定居点的建立同时发生。花粉记录中干扰群落信号的上升可能表明用作牧场的土地数量有所增加。这与考古记录相符，因为新石器时代的奥卡迪亚经济可能严重依赖牛来维持生计。到公元前 2800 年，在奥克尼大陆的核心地区，大多数定居点似乎已经结束，人们分散到更广阔的景观中，因为 MSA 模型表明受干扰的土地得到了维护，而且随后的情况确实略有增加，这意味着人类的持续存在在大陆其他地方的活动。人们耗尽了自己而不是土地；尽管新石器时代晚期奥克尼群岛鼎盛时期的密集社会关系和习俗无法维持，但它及其各种资源却得以延续。