Category: Artefacts
Video: ‘Neolithic Carved Stone Balls in context’
Dr Hugo Anderson-Whymark, curator of prehistory (Palaeolithic to Neolithic) at the National Museums of Scotland, and Mark Hall, history officer at Perth Museum and Art Gallery, talk carved stone balls… Read more
Carved Stone Balls – experimental archaeology workshop with Chris Gee
Chris Gee, of the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute, discusses the creation of Neolithic carved stone balls.
This video was made during… Read more
Focus on finds: multi-hollowed cobbles
The Ness of Brodgar archeological site revealed multi-hollowed cobble tools, an unglamorous but significant link to everyday life there. Read more
Focus on finds: haematite
Excavations revealed the use of coloured pigments in pottery and walls, specifically using haematite for red hues. Read more
Stories in Stones – 2020 Orkney Science Festival Talk
In this talk for the 2020 Orkney Science Festival, Professor Mark Edmonds considers some of the stone artefacts from the Ness – including our carved stone… Read more
Focus on finds: beads
The Ness site has unearthed a selection of stone and amber beads, showing high-quality craftsmanship. Read more
Focus on finds: worked bone
Due to acidic soil, bone preservation is rare, with surviving pieces often in poor condition. Read more
Video: Stone spatulate tools from the Ness of Brodgar
Archaeology Institute UHI graduate Gary Lloyd was awarded a Carnegie Vacation Scholarship to complete the research, which focused on the spoon-like artefacts, of which over 80 have been found to date. Read more
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
Dig director Nick on Neolithic carved stone balls
With replicas of the carved stone bone from Structure Ten going on sale online today, Ness of Brodgar excavation director Nick Card gives some background to these enigmatic objects.… Read more
Ness carved stone ball in 3D
A 3d photogrammetry model, by Hugo Anderson-Whymark, of the carved stone ball found at the Ness of Brodgar excavation site, by Molly Bond, on August 7, 2013.… Read more
Evidence of woven textiles confirmed at the Ness
We can confirm today that we have evidence of a woven Neolithic textile at the Ness of Brodgar – only the second example found in Scotland.
We don’t physically… Read more
Debitage confirms pitchstone knapping in Structure Eight
With Travis, it is not enough to find just one piece of pitchstone – within hours of finding the rather nice blade yesterday, he appeared clutching a finds bag from… Read more
Another pitchstone fragment from the Ness
Another flake of Arran pitchstone has turned up during the analysis of soil samples from Structure Eight.
Pitchstone is a volcanic glass, similar to obsidian, and its nearest source is… Read more
Microliths add to evidence of Mesolithic activity on the Ness
The tiny crescent microlith recovered at the Ness. (Hugo Anderson-Whymark)
Three tiny flint tools are the latest evidence of Mesolithic activity on the Ness of Brodgar peninsula.
Previous finds of… Read more
More images of today’s incised stone
Four more photographs of the incised stone found in the cell outside Structure Twelve’s eastern entrance today.
Click on any image for a larger version.
… Read more
Incised flagstone – more pictures
The light this morning was slightly better than yesterday, so here’s a few more pictures of easily reached sections of the incised flagstone found in the cell outside Structure Twelve’s… Read more
Dig Diary Extra – another view of Structure Twelve entrance cell incised stone
Another difficult stone to photograph – not only because of the light this afternoon but its sheer size. But hopefully this will give an idea of the number of incision… Read more
Incised stone from Structure Twelve’s eastern entrance
Working around the entrance to Structure Twelve there is a key rule…
… all stone removed from the area must be washed and checked for incised marks. And it’s a… Read more
