Month: August 2019

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 eastern entrance. 

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 was recorded today after the discovery of yet another decorated stone from the exterior of Structure Twelve’s eastern entrance. There, …

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 and motifs incorporated on its surface.

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 site on Tuesday might abate today. No chance! Not that we don’t want more, but perhaps not in such quantities …

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 corners of the site. But more of that later. We’ll begin today with animal bone – or all that remains …

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 good rule, as this small stone attests. The stone, measuring 18cm long, was among the rubble removed from a blocking …

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 the stone was in situ during its lifetime. As such, much of the incised lines are very difficult to see. …

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 also lashing the trenches, walls, structures and precious floors of the Ness of Brodgar excavation site. Inevitably this meant no …

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 the splendid example picture at the bottom of the page.

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 object in all its glory. Work to create an axe or macehead had started but seems to have been abandoned …

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 assistant Jonathan, arrived this morning to sample the hearths for archaeomagnetic dating (explained in yesterday’s diary). Before she can do …

A selection of pictures from today from Jo Bourne and Sigurd Towrie. As usual, click on any image for a larger version.