Dig Diary – Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Day Thirty-Six
The end is nigh…
Tuesday dawned cold and windy and stayed that way.
The wind is whistling in from the east and the air temperature has dropped several… Read more
Category: Excavation
Dig Diary – Monday, August 21, 2017
Day Thirty-Six
Jaw-dropping visitor numbers
It takes a lot for Ness of Brodgar jaws to drop, but that is what happened today.
Site director Nick has been looking… Read more
Dig Diary – Sunday, August 20, 2017
Day Thirty-Five
A record-breaking open day
The visitor record tumbled today as we welcomed almost 1,300 people to the Ness — so unfortunately no time for blog today, but hopefully… Read more
Dig Diary – Thursday, August 17, 2017
Day Thirty-Four
Puzzling developments and another ‘butterfly’ stone
Cleaning, planning and photography occupied much of today at the Ness, all of which are the essential prerequisites for shutting… Read more
Dig Diary – Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Day Thirty-Three
Stone Age slow cooking…
A huge amount of planning, drawing and photography is taking place on site today — which is normal for the period running… Read more
Dig Diary – Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Day Thirty-Two
Structure Twenty-Seven revelations
We are nearing the end of excavation for this year, with six days left of actual digging — including our Open Day on… Read more
Dig Diary – Monday, August 14, 2017
Day Thirty-One
A building older than Structure Twenty-Seven?
“Execrable” is such a good word.
It described last Friday’s weather perfectly, so what do we say about today? Execrable plus?
It… Read more
Dig Diary – Friday, August 11, 2017
Day Thirty
Decorated stones and technical wizardry
The weather is execrable today, utterly execrable.
There was heavy rain in the morning; heavier rain in the afternoon and we shudder to… Read more
Dig Diary – Thursday, August 10, 2017
Day Twenty-Nine
3D imaging to the rescue
Lots of interest today centred around Structure Twenty-Six, which has been painstakingly excavated by Claire and her team.
To the untrained… Read more
Dig Diary – Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Day Twenty-Eight
‘Gruelling, but fantastic’
Work is continuing apace in Structure One, with the removal of the Phase Two curving wall which bisects the building.
We’re proud of our… Read more
Dig Diary – Tuesday, August 8, 2017
Day Twenty-Seven
Wall’s path detected on a day of delights
Sometimes, just sometimes, there comes a flash of illumination like sunlight flooding the land with clarity and understanding.
It came… Read more
Dig Diary – Monday, August 7, 2017
Day Twenty-Six
Water, water everywhere
It was supposed to rain this morning, so site director Nick kept the diggers away on the expectation that the rain would go away after… Read more
Dig Diary – Friday, August 4, 2017
Day Twenty-Five
A box, an entrance and the revenge of Trench T
There were a number of interesting developments at the Ness today.
The first concerns an intriguing… Read more
Dig Diary – Thursday, August 3, 2017
Day Twenty-Four
Great walls and long-distance links
Orkney, or at least the part on which the Ness of Brodgar is situated, made a very passable imitation of the Malaysian jungle… Read more
Dig Diary – Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Day Twenty-Three
Star find of the season so far
One of our nicest finds this year emerged today — a double pot found by Matt in Trench T.
This… Read more
Dig Diary – Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Day Twenty-Two
Amidst a world of green and brown, loch and sky…
Interest is building over the possibilities contained within Trench J at the Ness, which itself holds the likely… Read more
Dig Diary – Monday, July 31, 2017
Day Twenty-One
A meeting of minds
There is a good deal of yawning on site today, which has nothing to do with the sultry weather.
Neither is it connected, in… Read more
Dig Diary – Friday, July 28, 2017
Orkney is at the centre of the book I am writing, and at the centre of Orkney is the Ness. Read more
Dig Diary – Thursday, July 27, 2017
Day Nineteen
Provocative pits test patience!
Once hailed the “mystery trench”, Trench T is now being, more appropriately, described as the “insanely annoying trench”.
It is testing supervisor Ben… Read more
Dig Diary – Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Day Eighteen
The ‘Great Wall’ revealed again
There used to be an element of fun about weather forecasts, especially in the bad old days when they were inaccurate.
Back then,… Read more
