Post-excavation: refining the stratigraphical matrix
Each year the structure supervisors document, in great detail, how each context layer relates to others - adding to the “stratigraphic matrix” for their area. Read more
Yearly Archive: 2020
Visitor information boards available to download
Each excavation season we have a series of information boards placed across the site for the benefit of the thousands of visitors we welcome each year.
Unfortunately, this year we… Read more
More of the wildlife around the Ness
Following last week’s sample, here’s another selection of images from dig director Nick Card. Click on any photograph for a larger version.… Read more
New additions to download archive
Two new PDFs are now available in our downloads archive.
The first, Painting a picture of Neolithic Orkney: decorated stonework from the Ness of Brodgar, is a paper by dig… Read more
Clickable trench views now online
When it comes to the Ness, the sheer number of Neolithic structures can be a little daunting when reading about the archaeology.
We’re currently sitting at 36 on site –… Read more
Ring of Brodgar relegated to fifth place in stone circle size table
Archaeological work in south-west Wales has pushed the Ring of Brodgar back to fifth place in the list of largest stone circles in the British Isles.
Four stones remain at… Read more
The wildlife of the Ness
The Ness of Brodgar is renowned for its wildlife as much as its archaeology.
When he’s not got his head down pondering Neolithic structures and artefacts, site director Nick Card… Read more
A brief introduction to Orkney’s prehistory
At the Ness of Brodgar excavation site we have pieced together a biography that spans millennia – from traces of Mesolithic activity to the site’s Neolithic heyday, through to the… Read more
‘Rock matters’ – Ness geologist’s PhD thesis available online
Dr Martha Johnson's PhD Thesis - Rock matters: A geological basis for understanding the rock at the Ness of Brodgar - is now available online. Read more
Archaeological review of 2019 released
A summary of last season’s work at the Ness is among the many articles featured in the new 2020 Orkney Archaeology Society annual review.
The book, which is free to… Read more
Appeal for old photos of the Brodgar area
Do you have any old photos of the Ness of Brodgar you’d care to share with us?
We are always on the look out for early photos of the Ness… Read more
New ‘American Friends’ leaflet available to download
Updated for 2020, the new information leaflet is available to download at the American Friends page.… Read more
Pot sherd – before and after…
Hot off the press! A before and after shot of a classic sherd of Neolithic Grooved Ware pot from Structure Twelve.
Picture one (above) shows the sherd emerging and picture… Read more
Debitage confirms pitchstone knapping in Structure Eight
With Travis, it is not enough to find just one piece of pitchstone – within hours of finding the rather nice blade yesterday, he appeared clutching a finds bag from… Read more
Another pitchstone fragment from the Ness
Another flake of Arran pitchstone has turned up during the analysis of soil samples from Structure Eight.
Pitchstone is a volcanic glass, similar to obsidian, and its nearest source is… Read more
Video – Ness presentation at Shanghai awards ceremony
In November 2019, the Ness of Brodgar excavation project was selected for a 2019 Shanghai Archaeology Forum Field Discovery Award.
In December, site director Nick Card was flown to Shanghai,… Read more
