Author: Sigurd

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

GIS – recording finds on a 3D site map

Alette recording find positions with the Total Station. (📷 Sigurd Towrie) The position of everything found during excavation is recorded digitally in three dimensions. You will know that is what… Read more

Excavation

Monday, July 20, 2020

Human arm bone added to list of Structure Ten buttress deposits

Diary – Monday, July 20, 2020Day Eleven 2011: Ray reveals the first hints of the third hearth in Structure Eight. (📷 ORCA) There’s nothing like sifting through our archives to… Read more

Three examples of pumice found at the Ness of Brodgar. (Sigurd Towrie)

Artefacts / Focus on Finds

Monday, July 20, 2020

Focus on finds: pumice

Pumice, a by-product of volcanic eruptions, played a significant role in Neolithic life, often used for its abrasive qualities. Read more

Excavation

Saturday, July 18, 2020

Awe and wonder in an age of reason – taking visitors to the Ness of Brodgar excavations

By Peter Yeoman The greatest thing about a visit to the Ness is that it peoples the landscape of deep time, in a way that other prehistoric sites on Orkney… Read more

Excavation

Friday, July 17, 2020

Threshold disappointment and a new rock art design revealed

Diary – Friday, July 17, 2020 Day Ten It was day two on this day in 2012 and although the uncovering process had gone remarkably quickly, site housework – cleaning,… Read more

Art Hut

Friday, July 17, 2020

From the Art Hut – How and why the Ness and the Neolithic are in my paintings

By Jeanne Bouza Rose I was leaving the heat of New York State and coming to Orkney for my summer holidays sometime in the early 2000s, having been drawn into… Read more

Structure Eight 'domino' stone. (Sigurd Towrie)

Excavation

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Decorated ‘dotted’ stone was a first for the Ness

Diary – Thursday, July 16, 2020 Day Nine There was a new look to the site when the excavation team turned up on Monday, July 16, 2012. The spoil heaps… Read more

Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn (Sigurd Towrie)

Chambered Cairns / Video

Thursday, July 16, 2020

The trouble with Cuween: human remains from Neolithic Orkney

Do we have evidence of ritualised violence at Cuween? A video lecture from Dr Rebecca Crozier, well-known in Orkney for her work at the Quanterness Chambered Cairn, released as… Read more

Art Hut

Thursday, July 16, 2020

From the Art Hut – the permanence of pigments

By Karen Wallis On July 17, 2018, I made this oil painting of Marc excavating a hearth in Structure One. The colour of the deposits was extremely rich and varied.… Read more

Excavation

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

A spectacular incised slab – the first of many in 2019

Diary – Wednesday, July 15, 2020 Day Eight As mentioned yesterday, we’re now reaching the point where the pre-2015, six-week excavations on site start getting under way. In 2014, it… Read more

Wildlife

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Wednesday wildlife – week thirteen

Another selection of photographs from the camera of dig director Nick Card. Click on any image for a larger version.… Read more

Excavation

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

A remarkable pottery sherd…

Diary – Tuesday, July 14, 2020Day Seven 2014: The last of the stones holding down the protective covers are removed from Structure Twelve. (📷 ORCA) Six years ago today, the… Read more

Around the Ness / Ring of Brodgar / Standing Stones / Stones of Stenness

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

A natural cursus? Water, walls and walking the Ness

Previously we saw that the Dyke of Sean was perhaps once one of three — or possibly four — walls that ran the width of the Ness of Brodgar in the Neolithic. Did these define specific areas – dividing the isthmus into distinct segments of “graded” space – and controlled movement and visibility through them? Read more

Excavation

Monday, July 13, 2020

Hints there’s something beyond Structure Twelve’s entrance…

Diary – Monday, July 13, 2020Day Six Colin reveal a new pecked design in the east entrance to Structure Twelve. (📷 ORCA) We’re back for week two and looking out… Read more

Excavation

Monday, July 13, 2020

The art of archaeological planning

Cecily planning Structure Seven way back in 2007. (📷 ORCA) Alice planning in the Central Midden Area. (📷 ORCA) Visit the Ness site at any time during an excavation season… Read more

Excavation

Friday, July 10, 2020

Seaweed, a standing stone and the ‘corner of loveliness’ revealed

Dig Diary – Friday, July 10, 2020 Day Five Here we are at the end of what would have been the first week of the 2020 excavation season. And, as… Read more

Author: Sigurd

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