Monthly Archive: August 2019
Dig Diary – Friday, August 9, 2019
Day Thirty
Wind, puzzling structures and a Neolithic bull!
To be honest today has been a bit of a struggle.
The day started grey and windy and became very windy… Read more
Neolithic bull putting in appearance at County Show
Just how big were the cattle consumed at the Ness of Brodgar in prehistory?
Drop by the County Show, in Kirkwall, tomorrow, Saturday and you’ll be able to see for… Read more
Drone images – Structures One, Twenty-Seven and Trench T
As we mentioned earlier, Professor Scott Pike launched his drone for record shots of Trench T as well as Structure One.
Here are a few of the day’s photographs. Click… Read more
Day Twenty-Nine in pictures…
A few photographs from today by Jo Bourne and Sigurd Towrie.
Click the images for larger versions.… Read more
Incised flagstone – more pictures
The light this morning was slightly better than yesterday, so here’s a few more pictures of easily reached sections of the incised flagstone found in the cell outside Structure Twelve’s… Read more
Dig Diary – Thursday, August 8, 2019
Day Twenty-Nine
More ‘cupmarks’ and a momentous occasion
We reached a momentous landmark today!
As we near the end of our 12th year of major excavation, our 40,000th small find… Read more
Site closed and no tours on Saturday
On Saturday, August 10, members of the Ness excavation team will be manning a stall at the County Show in Kirkwall (more details later this week).
Because of this the excavation site… Read more
Dig Diary Extra – another view of Structure Twelve entrance cell incised stone
Another difficult stone to photograph – not only because of the light this afternoon but its sheer size. But hopefully this will give an idea of the number of incision… Read more
Dig Diary – Wednesday, August 7, 2019
Day Twenty-Eight
Pots, a fond farewell and a massive incised slab…
Finds supervisor Anne and ceramic specialist Roy had high hopes that the flood of pottery which poured from the… Read more
Dig Diary – Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Day Twenty-Seven
Structure Twenty-Seven’s final feast…
Today has been a day dominated by pottery with a steady stream of Neolithic ceramics making its way to the finds hut from all… Read more
Incised stone from Structure Twelve’s eastern entrance
Working around the entrance to Structure Twelve there is a key rule…
… all stone removed from the area must be washed and checked for incised marks. And it’s a… Read more
Dig Diary Extra – closer views of Structure Seventeen incised stone
A few photographs of sections of the incised stone recovered from Structure Seventeen on July 25.
The slab features four bands of decoration, but areas appear to have been worn away while… Read more
Dig Diary – Monday, August 5, 2019
Day Twenty-Six
Meanwhile, over in Cupmark Corner…
We woke up this morning to the sound of torrential rain lashing the rooftops of Orkney.
Which means, of course, that it was… Read more
Macehead fragment – post-conservation
Not all finds from the Ness are in immaculate condition, as these newly received pictures of a macehead fragment, post-conservation, show.
Compare this badly damaged artefact with the condition of… Read more
Another goodie from Trench X
We mentioned yesterday that in the closing minutes of the day, an axehead/macehead blank was found in the same area as the spectacular macehead earlier in the day.
Here is the… Read more
Dig Diary – Friday, August 2, 2019
Day Twenty-Five
Hearths, heating and Neolithic cuisine…
Hearths, heating and Neolithic cuisine were the focus of much of the work on site today.
Dr Cathy Batt, and her son and… Read more
Day Twenty-Four in pictures…
A selection of pictures from today from Jo Bourne and Sigurd Towrie.
As usual, click on any image for a larger version.… Read more
Dig Diary – Thursday, August 1, 2019
Day Twenty-Four
STOP PRESS – As seems to be typical this week, in the final minutes of work today, an axehead/macehead blank came up in the same area as this… Read more
A taste of things to come…
It’s been a frantically busy day on site today – but also an incredibly exciting one.
We’re busily putting together today’s dig diary and gathering hundreds of photographs from all… Read more
