The central paved area and standing stone

The central paved area and standing stone from above. (Scott Pike)
The central paved area and standing stone from above. (📷 Scott Pike)

Four of the excavated buildings in Trench P – Structures One, Eight, Twelve and Twenty-Nine – cluster around a large, open-air paved area that appears to have marked the centre of the Neolithic complex. At one point in its history at least.

Dubbed the “central paved area”, the most prominent feature of this open space is a standing stone.

Dwarfed by those within the nearby Stones of Stenness and Ring of Brodgar, the squat megalith is aligned to Structure One’s southern entrance and has become known as – yes, you guessed it – the “central standing stone”.

The central paved area in 2023, with Structure Twelve (top), Structure One (bottom right), Structure Eight (bottom left) and Structure Ten (left). (📷 Tom O'Brien)
The central paved area in 2023, with Structure Twelve (top), Structure One (bottom right), Structure Eight (bottom left) and Structure Ten (left). (📷 Tom O’Brien)

Although we once thought it to be solitary, it may be that stone is one of a number found across the Ness complex. But while the others were incorporated into the fabric of later structures, the central standing stone was left alone.

Standing just over a metre high, 79 centimetres wide and 16 centimetres thick, the megalith does not stand in the middle of the paved area but seems instead to be central to the entire complex.

Although questions remain regarding the contemporaneity of the site’s northern and southern boundary walls, it is surely more than mere coincidence that the stone is equidistant from both.

The central paved area and standing stone in 2022. (📷Sigurd Towrie)
The central standing stone in its supporting cradle. (ORCA)
The central standing stone in its supporting cradle. (📷 ORCA)
Central paved area, and standing stone, in Trench P.
The central paved area, and standing stone, in Trench P. (📷 Scott Pike)
Left: Central standing stone (Jo Bourne). Right: Central paved area with standing stone in its supporting cradle. (Sigurd Towrie)
Left: Central standing stone (Jo Bourne). Right: Central paved area with standing stone in its supporting cradle. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)
The remains of walling in the area south of Structure One (top left); Structure Eleven (top centre), Structure Twelve (bottom right) and the central standing stone. (Hugo Anderson-Whymark)
The remains of walling in the area south of Structure One (top left); Structure Eleven (top centre), Structure Twelve (bottom right) and the central standing stone. (📷 Hugo Anderson-Whymark)

Aligned north-south – with incised decoration along its northern edge – the stone’s faces are orientated east-west, following the long axis of the later Structure Ten.

The central standing stone (in its supporting cradle) viewed from the south entrance of Structure One. (Sigurd Towrie)
The central standing stone (in its supporting cradle) viewed from the south entrance of Structure One. (📷Sigurd Towrie)

Two low, parallel stone walls ran from Structure One to the central standing stone but rather than representing a building these may have controlled movement between the two.

Given its Structure One alignment, the stone was clearly in position at the same time as the surrounding buildings. What is not so clear, however, is whether it was raised at the same time or pre-dated them.

What is beyond doubt is the paved area’s relationship to the surrounding buildings. Its central location suggests use as a meeting place.

At the nearby Barnhouse settlement the buildings were arranged in two rings surrounding a central, open area. Activity at Barnhouse seems to have focused on this area, which featured a large, open-air hearth and was home to a range of crafting activities.

What took place at the Ness’ central paved area is unclear as the area – like the buildings themselves – seems to have been kept scrupulously clean. As time went on, however, any significance once attached to the area began to wane.

Around 2900BC, when Structures One, Eight and Twelve had lost their primacy and entered their second, less grand, phases of use, the paved area had become a dumping ground for refuse and midden.

The central standing stone and paved area looking towards Structure One's southern entrance. (Jo Bourne)
The central standing stone and paved area looking towards Structure One’s southern entrance. (📷 Jo Bourne)
2014: The top of the central standing stone visible above the midden that covered the central paved area. (ORCA)
2014: The top of the central standing stone emerging from the midden that entirely covered the central paved area. (📷 ORCA)
Jenny planning the central paved area at the end of the 2015 excavation season. (ORCA)
Jenny planning the central paved area at the end of the 2015 excavation season. (📷 ORCA)
Central paved area and standing stone in 2015. (ORCA)
Central paved area and standing stone in 2015. (📷 ORCA)

Other standing stones

In August 2019, our dig diary exclaimed:

“Suddenly from having a single monolith at the centre of Trench P, the site seems to have been populated by standing stones.”

That was the day we realised that the central standing stone was one of a number of megaliths on site that, on current evidence, appear to relate to structures.

The suspected 'standing stone' locations (in red) in Trench P.
The suspected ‘standing stone’ locations (in red) in Trench P.
The poorly preserved remains of the Structure Nineteen standing stone - between Structures Eight and One. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)
The poorly preserved remains of the Structure Nineteen orthostat – between Structures Eight and One. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

Outside Structure Twelve’s eastern entrance is a standing stone of roughly the same proportions, but which is aligned a few degrees off east-west.

Although it stands a short distance from, and perpendicular to the two stones that flank the doorway,  this megalith probably originally relates to Twelve’s predecessor, Structure Twenty-Eight.

Another stood in the remains of Structure Nineteen, a later building between Structures One and Eight.

Also aligned north-south, this monolith stood parallel to the central standing stone.

Where the Structure Nineteen megalith fits into the story of the site is as yet unclear.

The final candidate is found outside the south-eastern entrance to Structure Fourteen.

Also aligned north-south, this suspected standing stone was incorporated into the doorway of Structure Sixteen, a smaller building that stood directly opposite Fourteen.

The fact the stone does not align exactly to Fourteen’s doorway, and was integrated into the fabric of a contemporary building, suggests it pre-dated them both and may instead relate to Structure Thirty-Six, their predecessor.