Category: Excavation

Chambered Cairns / Excavation / Ring of Brodgar / Standing Stones / Stones of Stenness

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

A master of his art – Jim Richardson photographs from around the Ness

Jim Richardson visiting the Ness in 2019. (📷 Jo Bourne) In 2012, Jim Richardson visited the Ness to capture images for a planned National Geographic feature article. The resultant images… Read more

Excavation

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Structure Eight’s second polished ‘pillow stone’

2011: Sarah reveals that the hearth in Structure Ten, despite suffering from subsidence, was indeed complete. (📷 ORCA) Diary – Tuesday, August 12, 2020Day Twenty-Seven The size and grandeur of… Read more

Excavation

Monday, August 10, 2020

More cupmarked, dressed and painted stone

Diary – Monday, August 10, 2020 Day Twenty-Six The 2011 investigation of the area around the presumed entrance to Structure Ten struck gold today – wall lines! These, however, were… Read more

The lines were drawn and the fieldwalkers ready to go - all assured that it wouldn't rain. (Sigurd Towrie)

Excavation

Sunday, August 9, 2020

Reduced Ness team head east for Bronze Age fieldwalk

Diggers and Finds Team volunteers come from far and wide to excavate the Ness of Brodgar but there is also a core of folk in Orkney who give their summers… Read more

2013: Fresh from Structure Ten, the carved stone ball is subjected to chemical analysis using Professor Scott Pike's portable XRF equipment. (ORCA)

Excavation

Friday, August 7, 2020

The momentous day we found our carved stone ball

2012: Exposed rubble deposits at the south end of Structure Eight. (📷 ORCA) Dig Diary – Friday, August 7, 2020Day Twenty-Five 2012: The Structure Twelve coloured pot sherd. (📷 ORCA)… Read more

Excavation

Friday, August 7, 2020

Degrees of separation – a brief guide to the flotation process

The recovery of large artefacts, such as stone tools and pottery, is just one part of the excavation process. What about the tiny items and organic material that are a… Read more

Excavation

Thursday, August 6, 2020

Three new buildings and a decommissioning feast for Structure Twenty-Seven

Dig Diary – Thursday, August 6, 2020 Day Twenty-Four We begin today in 2012 – another damp day in which activity on site was hampered by rain. … Read more

Excavation

Thursday, August 6, 2020

The first excavation at the Ness

Anyone who has been on a tour of the Ness will be familiar with the story of the notched slab that started it all. The slab, which had been ploughed… Read more

Excavation

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Cupmarks galore around Structure Twelve entrance

Dig Diary – Wednesday, August 5, 2020 Day Twenty-Three Friday, August 5, 2011, was another day of roof tiles in Structure Eight. After recovering over 370… Read more

2014: Structure One on this day six years ago. The southern, original, entrance is in the foreground, with the later eastern entrance on the right. (Hugo Anderson-Whymark)

Excavation

Tuesday, August 4, 2020

A day of site-wide revelations…

Dig Diary – Tuesday, August 4, 2020 Day Twenty-Two Wednesday, August 4, 2011, was a day of revelations in Trench P. Working in Structure Fourteen it became clear… Read more

Excavation

Monday, August 3, 2020

A plethora of exquisite polished stone artefacts!

Dig Diary – Monday, August 3, 2020 Day Twenty-One August 2011 began with a plethora of finds from Structure Eight. Following the discovery of a “toolkit”… Read more

Structure Ten Decorated Stone (Hugo Anderson-Whymark)

Excavation

Friday, July 31, 2020

‘The most incredible piece of Neolithic decoration found on site’

Seven years ago today was a day to remember. It was the day that the most incredible piece of Neolithic decoration found on site to date emerged from the interior of Structure Ten. Read more

Excavation

Thursday, July 30, 2020

The first suggestion of Iron Age remodelling of Trench T mound

Dig Diary – Thursday, July 30, 2020 Day Nineteen July 30, 2012, saw some intense thinking about the site by site director Nick. Building on the detailed stratigraphic… Read more

Excavation

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Astonished by the scale of the trench-spanning mega-drain

Dig Diary – Wednesday, July 29, 2020 Day Eighteen We kick of proceedings today in Structure Eight, which has revealed much in the way of finds –… Read more

2011: The complete 'Brodgar Boy' clay object from Structure Fourteen. (ORCA)

Excavation

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

The ‘Brodgar Boy’ emerges … but what was it?

Dig Diary – Tuesday, July 28, 2020 Day Seventeen On this day in 2011, the “Brodgar Boy” emerged from Structure Fourteen. The small clay “figurine” was… Read more

Excavation

Monday, July 27, 2020

More maceheads, axes and horned spiral decoration…

Diary – Monday, July 27, 2020Day Sixteen 2011: The macehead and pierced bone in Structure Eight. (📷 ORCA) Structure Eight has a reputation for fine artefacts and it didn’t disappoint… Read more

Excavation / Video

Sunday, July 26, 2020

Woodlands under the waves…

A talk by Dr Scott Timpany of the Archaeology Institute UHI on prehistoric woodlands preserved within intertidal peats around the coastline of Britain. Here Scott… Read more