Catch up on last year’s dig ahead of 2023’s seven-week excavation
In a month’s time the covers come off again at the Ness and the penultimate season of excavation will begin. We’ll update you on our plans for the 2023 season… Read more
Author: Sigurd
Exhibition: Dowsing at Brodgar
A set of dowsing rods and the fantastic archaeology around the Ness of Brodgar were the inspiration behind a new art exhibition at the Orkney Museum.
Local artist Samantha Gray… Read more
Link: Nick Card interview on Strata programme
Site director Nick Card has been in the USA, where he was keynote speaker at the Archaeology Channel’s Conference on Cultural Heritage Media.
Nick delivered a series of talks in… Read more
Spirits of the Standing Stones
The early antiquarians who documented Orkney's ancient monuments paid little attention to the local beliefs surrounding the sites. Read more
A selection of the Ness of Brodgar’s finest on display in Orkney Museum
The Orkney Museum is playing host to some of the Ness of Brodgar’s finest artefacts this summer - most of which were part of last year's World of Stonehenge exhibition at the British Museum. Read more
Wild things? Further research on the prehistory of red deer in Orkney
A joint research project has explored the origin of red deer in Neolithic Orkney. But more questions than answers remain. Read more
Vestrafiold – the enclosure
On the lower slopes of Vestrafiold, south-west of the megalithic quarry are the remains of a large, possible prehistoric, enclosure. Covering an area of around seven acres (2.8 hectares), the oval feature was defined by a “wall” of upright flagstones running around its perimeter.
Little is known about the site, which, in terms of construction, “is completely unlike any other enclosure in Orkney”. Read more
Vestrafiold – the fake horned cairn
Lying 50 metres east of the megalith quarry on Vestrafiold is an oval mound that was suggested to be the remains of a very poorly preserved stalled cairn. Excavation, however, revealed otherwise. Read more
Ness colour inspires new Neolithic research project
One of the “painted” stones from the Ness of Brodgar, showing the use of red and yellow pigment. (📷 ORCA)An example of one of the coloured pot sherds from the… Read more
Wednesday wildlife – ornithological outings
This week’s photographic selection from site director Nick Card.
… Read more
Vestrafiold – the megalithic quarry
From at least the early 19th century, Vestrafiold was considered to be a source of the megaliths found in the Stones of Stenness and Ring of Brodgar. Why? Although several quarries were traditionally said to have produced standing stones, Vestrafiold had the proof in situ - quarried, but abandoned, megaliths scattered across the hillside. Read more
Wednesday wildlife – blue skies and still waters
This week’s photographic selection from site director Nick Card.… Read more
Halykirk – dolmen or stalled cairn?
As regular readers will have noted, 19th century antiquarians were very keen to find evidence of dolmens in Orkney. Haleykirk/Helyakirk/Halykirk/Holykirk lies about a quarter of a mile to the south-east of the megalithic quarries on Vestrafiold, on the hill of Cruaday. Read more
Field visit and fuel burning: the ongoing story of Structure Eight
Sarah Jane Haston is coming to the end of the second year of her MRes programme looking at the charred plant remains from Structure Eight. Read more
