Diary – Thursday, August 13, 2020 Day Twenty-Nine We begin today with another pillow stone – this time from Structure Fourteen in 2013. The beautifully polished stone, similar to the two red examples from...
By Karen Wallis As this is my last blog for the virtual dig diary, I’m going to take a look back over the whole of my residency to date. The picture above was my...
Diary – Wednesday, August 12, 2020 Day Twenty-Seven It was all go on in Structure Ten on this day in 2011. Further excavation of the central hearth revealed it to be huge – some...
In 2012, Jim Richardson visited the Ness to capture images for a planned National Geographic feature article. The resultant images were truly awe-inspiring and today, thanks to Jim’s generosity, we’re able to share a ...
Diary – Tuesday, August 12, 2020 Day Twenty-Seven The size and grandeur of Structure Ten continued to get clearer on this day in 2011. The secondary insertions and wall lines in the building’s interior...
By Cecily Webster Structure Twelve had structural problems at various points – likely including roof leaks as the heavy slab tiles levered away from each other and subsequent discolouration of any wash used on...
Diary – Monday, August 10, 2020 Day Twenty-Six The 2011 investigation of the area around the presumed entrance to Structure Ten struck gold today – wall lines! These, however, were not what was expected...
Although we don’t have a huge number of beads at the Ness, the examples we have show exquisite craftsmanship. Unlike Skara Brae, where the huge bead assemblage was predominantly bone, the Ness beads are...
Diggers and Finds Team volunteers come from far and wide to excavate the Ness of Brodgar but there is also a core of folk in Orkney who give their summers to the site. On...
Our brief guide to Orkney’s prehistory has been updated, with a new page outlining the Iron Age in the islands. Click here to read.
By Roy Towers How was Neolithic pottery made, and in particular the Grooved Ware pottery from the Ness of Brodgar? We should acknowledge at the outset that this is not a simple question. Every...
Dig Diary – Friday, August 7, 2020 Day Twenty-Five It was officially given a name on August 6, 2018, but it was on this day in 2012 that the first signs of Structure Thirty-One...
Seven years ago today we found the only example of a carved stone ball from the Ness to date. After a tremendous response to the first batch, we have a limited number of replica...
