Day Thirty-Eight Physical traces of a Neolithic potter? This, dear readers, is our last diary of the 2019 excavation season at the Ness. You will have realised that there are certain people who are absolutely essential to the success of this extraordinary archaeological adventure, and we want to thank them …
Day Thirty-Seven Human bone and a standing stone… In the best archaeological tradition, and with two days to go of the 2019 Ness dig, some amazing discoveries have been made – not least of which, and definitely the most unexpected, is the discovery of a second human arm bone from …
And with two days to go, it seems we might have yet another standing stone in Trench P. More details to follow…
A very interesting day in Structure Ten today, where a second human arm bone was found in association with the south-western buttress inside the building. We’re writing today’s blog post at this very minute, so check back shortly for more details.
Day Thirty-Six Last week syndrome… There is such a thing in Orcadian archaeology as “last week syndrome” when, as everything winds down towards the end of the excavation, something interesting turns up. Today is the beginning of the last week and something interesting turned up. The team in Trench T …
Day Thirty-Five Sunshine and crowds at the Ness Our second and final ‘Special Sunday’ open day of the season took place today, with over 1,000 visitors recorded at the excavation site alone. Thank you to all who turned out for the tours and activities on site and in the Stenness …
A selection of pictures from across the site from Jo and Sigurd. Click on the images for larger versions.
A selection of drone shots from yesterday from Professor Scott Pike.
We are very sad to announce, after battling a long illness, the passing away of Bryn, the director’s site dog and the real director of the Ness. He will be missed by us all, and by all the visitors to the Ness who he met and greeted in his own special way. Bryn would be there in …
Day Thirty-Four Paperwork, plans and finds With just days to go until the 2019 excavation draws to a close, the site was abuzz with activity today. Needless to say, with an excavation as complex as the Ness much of this involved paperwork, but there was still considerable excavation activity going …
As mentioned in today’s dig diary, Bruce lifted a flagstone beside one of the standing stones flanking the entrance to Structure Twelve to reveal a large spread of animal bone. It came as no surprise to see that the flagstone had been decorated with the same triangular motifs found elsewhere …
Four more photographs of the incised stone found in the cell outside Structure Twelve’s eastern entrance today. Click on any image for a larger version.
For a few days now this little character has been spotted regularly from the excavation site, swimming around the banks of the Harray loch. The otter seems to be as fascinated by us as we are of it – and today came out of the water close to our finds …
Day Thirty-Three ‘Compulsive building, re-building, alteration and improvement’ After the massive cleaning exercise for yesterday’s photo sessions, the Ness is looking magnificent today in the sunshine. The buildings are sharply delineated, making their outlines even easier to see for the visitors who continue to flock to the site in large …
