Thursday throwback: excavation under way in Trench P in 2015
We've got a blast from the past this evening after recovering a forgotten (and assumed lost) cache of video footage from a defunct hard drive. Read more
Category: Excavation
2004 excavation report available to download
Earlier this year we posted the 2003 DSR and today the 2004 report is available to download. Read more
Scotland Outdoors at the Ness of Brodgar – podcast available now
One of the thousands of visitors this summer was Rachel Stewart, who was recording for the Scotland Outdoors podcast - released today. Read more
Dates set for 2024 dig – the final season of excavation at the Ness
August 2023: Excavation in Trench T. (📷 Doug Plummer)
The dates for next year’s excavation – the final season of fieldwork at the Ness – have been set.
Provided our… Read more
Drone photos from across the site
A superb selection of drone photos from Structure Eight team member Tom O’Brien.
Click on any image for an enlargement.… Read more
Diary Extra – The cover-up begins…
The work to start covering over the trenches for the winter got under way this morning and although we didn’t manage to complete all the structures, we made a great… Read more
Dig Diary – That’s it over for another year. Hopefully see you in 2024!
Paul, Allyson and Estella stacking tyres by the side of Trench P. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)
Day Thirty-ThreeWednesday, August 16, 2023
That’s all folks – the 2022 excavation season at the… Read more
Dig Diary – Another deposit of wood, this time around Structure Twenty
Nick J. excavating around the timber deposit to the north of Structure Twenty’s exposed pier. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)
Day Thirty-TwoTuesday, August 15, 2023
Kristina excavating the pit inside Structure Eight’s… Read more
Diary Extra – 3d model of pillowstone fragment and a complete example
Paul Durdin’s latest 3d model – the rhodochrosite pillowstone fragment from Structure Thirty today.
Two other rhodochrosite pillowstones have been found on site – both in Structure Eight in 2011… Read more
Dig Diary – A flint knife, pillowstone fragment and successful operation to recover timber
Ceiridwen and the beautiful flint knife she found this afternoon. (📷 Ceiridwen Blakely)
Day Thirty-OneMonday, August 14, 2023
Where does the time go!
Here we are in the final week… Read more
Dig Diary – Thwarted by rain but a few nice pottery discoveries
Seeking shelter from the deluge in the supervisors’ hut. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)
Day ThirtyFriday, August 11, 2023
Louise with the sherd of what may be very early pottery she found… Read more
Dig Diary – Drones, bones and the latest on our Neolithic wooden plank
The Ness team gather for a group picture. (📷 Scott Pike)
Day Twenty-NineThursday, August 10, 2023
Today was photography day, so it began with yet more cleaning – sprucing up… Read more
Diary Extra – Cleaning continues…
A few images from the marathon cleaning session ahead of today’s photography session.
Click on any image for larger versions.… Read more
Diary Extra – 3d model of the timber plank in Trench T
Another new model from Trench J supervisor Paul Durdin.
Organic materials do not survive well in the acidic soil conditions at the Ness of Brodgar, so the regular appearance of… Read more
Dig Diary – Trench T’s timber plank hailed our ‘most exciting find’ to date
Slow and steady. Elena at work on the timber plank in Structure Twenty-Seven this afternoon. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)
Day Twenty-EightWednesday, August 9, 2023
Today, it was all hands on deck… Read more
Diary Extra – 3d model of Structure Twenty’s wall face and pier
A new photogrammetric model from Paul Durdin showing a section of the exposed walls and pier of Structure Twenty, the confirmed building lying beneath Structure Ten.… Read more
Dig Diary – Another ‘Brodgar Butterfly’ emerges from rubble pit
The incised ‘Brodgar Butterfly’ motif found by Ceiridwen today. (📷 Tom O’Brien)
Day Twenty-SevenTuesday, August 8, 2023
As we suspected it might, more incised, decorated stone has been popping up… Read more
Diary Extra – Structure Twenty-Seven flyover video
A short video from Professor Scott Pike, showing Trench T and Structure Twenty-Seven.… Read more
Dig Diary – Prehistoric timber fragments continue to appear in Structure Twenty-Seven.
Day Twenty-Six
Monday, August 7, 2023
Week six dawned bright and sunny.
What an absolutely gorgeous day to welcome a few new diggers on site!
And it remained so the… Read more
Dig Diary – Welcome return of Time Team member who discovered the Ness complex
Day Twenty-Five
Friday, August 4, 2023
Here we are at the end of week five. Just two more to go before the site is closed for the winter.
You’d be… Read more
Dig Diary – Wooden fragments recovered from two Ness structures
Two of the timber fragments under the microscope. (📷 Jen Miller)
Day Twenty-FourThursday, August 3, 2023
Regular readers will know that the preservation of organic material at the Ness is… Read more
