Traditional names or just another ‘Loda’ old nonsense?
Is there any truth to the antiquarian claims that the two Stenness circles were traditionally known as the Temples of the Sun and Moon? Read more
Category: Around the Ness
The centre of their world – where heaven, earth and people came together
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
Video: Maeshowe and the winter solstice
This Friday, December 22, is the winter solstice - a day intextricably linked to Maeshowe in Stenness. 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
The Ness of Brodgar from above
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
The Bookan Chambered Cairn
At some point in the Neolithic a small, multi-chambered structure was built on high ground at the north-western end of the Ness of Brodgar. Read more
The Ness of Onston enclosure
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
The Staneyhill stone (and round about)
A solitary megalith towers over a Neolithic quarry about 350 metres to the south-east of the Staneyhill horned cairn. Read more
Link: ‘Orkney – Centre of the Stone Age’ podcast
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
Staneyhill long horned cairn
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
Chasing the ‘Brodgar road’ – the claimed route of the stone circle megaliths
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
Howe, Stromness – a hub of Neolithic and Iron Age activity
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
The Ring of Bookan
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
Where’s the trees? Gathering and using timber in Neolithic Orkney
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
The Norse on the Ness
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
Geophysics suggests the Ness may not be as unique as once thought
When the Ness of Brodgar was discovered in 2003, it was without parallel. But we now suspect it might not be. Read more
Enclosing the midden mound – Iron Age activity at the Ness excavation site
The Ness complex was abandoned at the end of the Neolithic, around 2500BC, but at least one section was brought back into use, some 1,800 years later, in the Iron Age. Read more
Big Howe – an Iron Age broch beside the Stones of Stenness?
Stand in the centre of the Stones of Stenness today and a short distance to the south-east, in the adjacent field, you will see a low mound. This is Big Howe, all that remains of a large Iron Age feature that once dominated an area 150 metres away from the stone circle. Read more
The Bay of Skaill trail
We bring this week to a close they way we started it – with another trail!
This time we head to the west coast of the Orkney Mainland and take… Read more
Around the Ness in the 19th century with George Washington Wilson
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… Read more
Time for the old house to die? – henges and houses in the Neolithic
Over the past few weeks, we have looked at expedient architecture - the idea that some Neolithic buildings were hastily built, perhaps dismantled or simply left to become ruinous. This is not restricted to structures. Read more
The ‘Lochview’ Standing Stones
Thousands cross the Ness of Brodgar annually. But, if noticed at all, a pair of standing stones between the two stone circles probably don’t get a second glance. Read more
