Dig Diary – This season’s second polished stone axe from Trench J
Day Seven
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Well that’s been another busy day.
With multiple tours – private and public – the site has been a veritable hive of activity, with… Read more
Author: Sigurd
Dig Diary Extra – 3d model of worked whalebone artefact

Trench J supervisor Paul Durdin has worked his photogrammetry magic again, this time creating a 3d model of the whalebone artefact found in the floor of Structure Thirty-Two yesterday.… Read more
Dig Diary – it’s large and made from whalebone. But what is it?
Day Six
Tuesday, July 11, 2022
Trench J at the Ness is the trench which just keeps giving.
You will recall that on Friday, towards the very end of the… Read more
Ness of Brodgar exhibition all set for tomorrow’s opening
Norna, Katy and Travis begin setting up the exhibition in the Maeshowe visitor centre. (📷 Nick Card)
By Anne Mitchell and Katy Firth
Polished stone tools. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)
Last… Read more
Dig Diary – Trench J produces 2022’s first polished stone axe
Day Five
Friday, July 8, 2022
Can this really be the end of the first week at the Ness?
Time has flown past, much of it propelled on… Read more
Dig Diary – Full steam ahead as we get back into the trenches
Day Four
Thursday, July 7, 2022
After yesterday’s weather delay, it was full steam ahead today as the last of the covers were removed, the trowels came out and we… Read more
Dig Diary – What else but the weather!
Day Three
Wednesday, July 6, 2022
Out there in the Archaeosphere there are diligent followers of the Ness who get quite annoyed when we insist on talking about the… Read more
Damp and blustery on site but we’re open as scheduled
As forecast, the day dawned damp and blustery – but we are opening the site to visitors as scheduled and the tours will also run.
However, Orkney’s weather is notoriously… Read more
Dig Diary – The covers are off. And back on again
Day Two
Tuesday, July 5, 2022
We completed the herculean task of removing the protective covers from Trenches P and T today – only to put some of them back… Read more
Dig Diary – Back in business with a full team!
Day One
Monday, July 4, 2022
The Ness of Brodgar has come alive once more.
After the long, frustrating months of Covid and the truncated excavation of 2021, we are… Read more
The last ‘Wednesday wildlife’ before its summer break
We’re back on site next week with the 2022 excavation starting on Monday, July 4.
So here’s our last Wednesday wildlife offering before it takes a summer break. The pictures… Read more
Back on site in seven days with focus on Structures One, Five, Eight, Ten and Twenty-Seven
In seven days, a full team of archaeologists will be back at the Ness of Brodgar for the first time since 2019.
Work resumes on Monday, July 4, and runs… Read more
Wednesday wildlife – cygnets and swans
More photographs from around the Ness of Brodgar from site director Nick Card. All images were taken with a large telephoto lens so as not to disturb the wildlife.… Read more
Summer exhibition puts spotlight on the people of the Ness
We’re delighted to announce that we’ve got an extra event running over the 2022 dig season – a six-week exhibition in Stenness village.
Entitled The Ness: Its people, the… Read more
Link: Explore Vinquoy chambered cairn with new 3d model
3d model of the Vinquoy chambered cairn, Eday, Orkney.
New 3d models of chambered cairns now available to explore as part of the UHI Archaeology Institute’s Tombs of the Isles… Read more
Structure Eight: Bearing fruit
An update on Sarah-Jane Haston's research into the charred plant remains from Structure Eight. Read more
