The Ring of Brodgar and Stones of Stenness have been classed as "henges" since the term was coined in the 1930s. But are they really? And what exactly is a henge? Read more
By natural coincidence the Ness of Brodgar isthmus roughly lines up with a solstice axis. Is this one of the reason's the area became a magnet to people for millennia? Read more
Structure Twelve supervisor Jim Rylatt is in Orkney at present, juggling hundreds of contexts to piece together a phased timeline for the building.
On one of the few reasonably pleasant… Read more
North of the Unstan stalled cairn is an enigmatic earthwork that separates the landward side of the Ness of Onston from the headland.
This arc of two banks and ditches runs across the width of the headland, demarcating an area to the north that is now devoid of features or visible archaeological remains. Read more
A new podcast from History Hit, looking at Orkney's Neolithic remains, including Maeshowe, the Ring of Brodgar, Skara Brae and a section on the Ness of Brodgar, featuring Nick Card and Roy Towers. Read more
Across the waters of the Harray loch, just over two miles north-east of the Ness of Brodgar complex, is one of the few known Orcadian examples of a Neolithic long horned cairn. Read more
For many years I have been fascinated by an “old tradition” of a prehistoric, eight-mile-long track known as the “Brodgar Road”. This, it was said, marked the route of the megaliths bound for the Ring of Brodgar and Stones of Stenness from the quarry site at Vestrafiold. Read more
Ahead of planned agricultural improvements, the prehistoric site at Howe was excavated from 1978 until 1982 – an operation that revealed a complex series of occupation episodes spanning the Neolithic to Iron Age. Read more
A mile or so north west of the Ring of Brodger, the ditched enclosure known as the Ring of Bookan comprises a flat-bottomed ditch surrounding an oval, raised platform. Read more
The Orkney encountered by the first farmers, around 3700BC, was very different. Not only did lower sea levels mean more lowland areas, but Orkney was also home to wooded areas containing birch, hazel, rowan, willow, oak and pine. Read more
A few weeks ago conversation at excavation HQ drifted from matters Ness and the Neolithic to apparent Viking Age runes found in the 1920s at the nearby Brodgar farm. Read more