The Ness of Brodgar Excavation

Around the Ness in the 19th century with George Washington Wilson

Friday, April 30, 2021

We were delighted to learn this week that the University of Aberdeen’s George Washington Wilson photographic archive is free to access online.

Operating from Aberdeen, on the Scottish mainland, in the latter half of the 19th century, Wilson took photographs all over the world and his collection consists of over 40,000 glass plate negatives.

At some point between 1850 and 1890 he visited Orkney on a photographic expedition. A selection of the photographs taken around the Ness of Brodgar are shown here.

The Watchstone and Brig o' Brodgar looking towards the Ness excavation site.
The Watchstone and Brig o’ Brodgar looking towards the Ness excavation site. In the distance you can see a large tumulus (see below) that featured in most early accounts of the area and which sat to the north of our current Trench T. (Aberdeen University)
A closer view of the "tumulus" before it was mostly removed in the 1880s.
A closer view, showing the scale of the tumulus. When the surrounding field was squared off in the 1880s, the mound was robbed for road construction material and considerably reduced. (Aberdeen University)
Maeshowe.
Maeshowe. (Aberdeen University)
The Stones of Stenness, with one of the prone stones visible in the background.
The Stones of Stenness, with one of the prone megaliths – the result of Captain MacKay’s destructive spree in 1814 – visible in the background. (Aberdeen University)
A view of a prone megalith at the Stones of Stenness, before its re-erection in the early 20th century.
A view of a prone megalith at the Stones of Stenness, before its re-erection in 1906. (Aberdeen University)
The Ring of Brodgar.
The Ring of Brodgar. (Aberdeen University)
The Ring of Brodgar, with the cartwheel-rutted road to Sandwick and Birsay outside the ditch and in the foreground.
The Ring of Brodgar, with the cartwheel-rutted road to Sandwick and Birsay outside the ditch and in the foreground. (Aberdeen University)
The Ring of Brodgar.
The Ring of Brodgar. (Aberdeen University)
The road past the Ring of Brodgar.
The road past the Ring of Brodgar. (Aberdeen University)
The Ring of Brodgar, looking south-east.
The Ring of Brodgar, looking south-east. (Aberdeen University)
The Ring of Brodgar and South Knowe.
The Ring of Brodgar and South Knowe. (Aberdeen University)
The Ring of Brodgar.
The Ring of Brodgar. (Aberdeen University)

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