Category: Artefacts

Spatulate Stone Tools at the Ness of Brodgar

Friday, July 31, 2020

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

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

Artefacts / Video

Friday, June 26, 2020

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

3D Model / Artefacts

Friday, June 26, 2020

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 textile use at the Ness of Brodgar

Artefacts

Monday, June 1, 2020

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 have… Read more

Artefacts / Excavation / News

Thursday, February 6, 2020

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

Artefacts / Excavation / News

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

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

Artefacts

Thursday, September 5, 2019

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

Artefacts / Excavation

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

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

Artefacts / Excavation

Thursday, August 8, 2019

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

Artefacts / Excavation

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

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

Artefacts / Excavation

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

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

Artefacts / Excavation

Monday, August 5, 2019

Dig Diary Extra – closer views of Structure Seventeen incised stone

A few photographs of sections of the incised stone recovered from Structure Seventeen on July 25. The slab features four bands of decoration, but areas appear to have been worn away… Read more

Artefacts

Monday, August 5, 2019

Macehead fragment – post-conservation

Not all finds from the Ness are in immaculate condition, as these newly received pictures of a macehead fragment, post-conservation, show. Compare this badly damaged artefact with… Read more

Artefacts / Excavation

Friday, August 2, 2019

Another goodie from Trench X

We mentioned yesterday that in the closing minutes of the day, an axehead/macehead blank was found in the same area as the spectacular macehead earlier in the day. Here is… Read more