The remarkable Neolithic ceremonial site at the Ness of Brodgar has a habit of springing surprises on those who work there. Ceramics specialist Roy Towers from the Archaeology Institute of the University of the Highlands and Islands was assessing a box full of pottery from the site when a surprising …
A splendid video from BBC Archives, featuring Cathal O’Shannon touring the Neolithic settlement of Skara Brae.
The History of Ancient Britain television special, featuring the Ness of Brodgar, will be available on the PBS America channel this month. The programme was originally broadcast in the UK in January 2012, and is screening on PBS America four times in May. For details, see https://www.pbsamerica.co.uk/series/a-history-of-ancient-britain-special-priests-of-orkney/#4858
We’re looking for volunteers to help meet and greet visitors at the Ness of Brodgar dig site this summer from July 3, to August 21. The site is open every day, except August 11, and we have two Special Sunday events on July 21 and August 18. We need people …
Since we sent out last month’s newsletter (if you have not signed up yet, click here) we’ve had a number of generous donations to the Ness excavation funds. To respect the privacy of donors we will obviously not be naming anyone but would like to take this opportunity to thank …
Long-time supporters of the Ness Michael and Sara Sinclair have posted a video showing the creation of one of their wooden petropsheres. The auction of one of Michael’s stunning brass petrospheres raised £625 for excavation funds earlier this year. Much of Michael’s inspiration is derived from Orkney’s rich archaeological heritage, with …
(Since posting this, we’ve learned it is not available to viewers outside Europe. Sorry to our non-European followers) A beautiful documentary on Orkney, from ARTE. The film-makers visited the Ness at the start of last year’s dig season to record a segment. The Ness bit begins around 16.21, but take …
Eagle-eyed Cecily has recovered another beautiful find from the flotation residues. After last week’s tiny bead, this time she has found a small fragment of thin flagstone, unusually decorated on both sides. One side of the fragment (pictured above) shows a clear “stacked chevrons” design.
Sometimes it’s the small things that astound — like this tiny stone bead discovered today. Measuring circa 2mm in diameter, the bead must have taken a steady hand and a sharp eye to create and was recovered by Cecily from the residue from an environmental sample taken in Structure Twenty-Six …
To the uninitiated, it might look as though Chris Marshall (right) has secured a sci-fi prop from a 1970s BBC TV programme (Blake’s Seven anyone?) What he is actually doing is testing out an RTI photography rig that will allow detailed examination and recording primarily of our decorated pottery and to …
That well known finds magnet strikes again… Travis, known to some of you from last years on site blog where he gained the reputation for finding several beautiful artefacts, has been gaining more work experience throughout the year assisting Cecily with sorting the residues from the sample flotation process. Occasionally …
Ness of Brodgar site director Nick Card is bound for China next week, to take part in a workshop on heritage management. Nick will travel to Xi’an for the event as an invited guest of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Hailed the birthplace of Chinese …
