Category: Excavation

In 2016, we posted an aerial image created by Professor Scott Pike, of Willamette University, using his drone flying above Trench P. Taking a series of individual aerial shots, Scott compiled them into one large image, showing, in detail, the entirety of Trench P, including Trench X – the long, …

There was delight in the Ness pottery HQ this summer when two examples of pot bases, clearly imprinted with the marks of a basketry mat, were recovered – one from Structure Twenty-Six, the other from Trench T. This week, while working with the thousands of pottery sherds recovered to date …

Delighted to discover a cache of pictures from 2007 this evening, showing Trench J (which was extended this year), Trench R (a short-lived trench opened to examine the “Great Wall of Brodgar” and Trench P – in the case of the latter is shows just how far we’ve come over …

Day Thirty-Eight That’s all folks! Well folks, that’s it. The 2018 dig season at the Ness is now over. Trowels have been replaced with tyres and the huge task of covering the entire site with sheets of plastic pinned down with car and truck tyres has begun. We have had …

Day Thirty-Seven Plans, pics and 3D models… It’s a sobering thought, but after today there is just one more excavation day left. What do we do with it? Well, we keep excavating although, as today, a good deal of effort goes into the essential work of tying up final plans, …

Day Thirty-Six Two new buildings and a possible Beaker shard We must own up. There is a degree of lassitude around the site today, partly as a reaction to yesterday’s Open Day, when more than a thousand people visited the Ness site and the demonstrations and activities at the Stenness …

Day Thirty-Five Sunshine brings crowds flocking to final Open Day Over 1,100 visitors flocked to the Ness today to view the site and special events laid on for the final Open Day of the season. In glorious sunshine, the crowds viewed ancient music, ancient cooking techniques and ancient artefacts, as …

As usual, click on the thumbnails for a larger version. 

Day Thirty-Four Second macehead of the season We’ll break all the rules of diary writing and start with a couple of apologies. If this diary is a little late in reaching you it is because at the end of today the weary Ness staff and diggers head off for the …