Dig Diary – Friday, July 25, 2014
Day Ten
Colour in prehistory
We will start with an update on the activities of our very distinguished visitors from Spain.
Professors Mimi Bueno and Rodrigo de Balbin Behrmann are… Read more
Category: Excavation
Dig Diary – Thursday, July 24, 2014
Day Nine
Too hot? In Orkney?
We must admit it. Many of us have listened to the stories of colleagues who have worked in wonderful sunny countries like Greece or… Read more
Dig Diary – Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Day Eight
Carinated bowl in Structure Fourteen?
Today was pottery day at the Ness, and, oh, what pottery. The prize find came from Hugo’s Structure Fourteen and a location we have mentioned… Read more
Dig Diary – Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Day Seven
A busy day and a hot one
The sun has sizzled down on the Ness from early morning and now, as we prepare to finish off the day,… Read more
Dig Diary – Monday, July 21, 2014
Day Six
Welcoming the Willamettes
Warm welcomes this morning to the students from Willamette University, Oregon, who have joined us for another year with their Professor, Scott Pike.
Scott is… Read more
Dig Diary – Friday, July 18, 2014
Day Five
Hacked, but back . . .
It’s great to be back. Not that we have been anywhere in terms of the archaeology. The work at the Ness has… Read more
Dig Diary – Thursday, July 17, 2014
Day Four
The midden baulks are removed in the CMA to the south of Structure One. (📷 ORCA)
Nothing’s going to stop us now . . .
Today at the… Read more
Dig Diary – Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Day Three
First find of the season
Today, Trench T was opened, and in remarkably fast order. One minute it was wrapped in its winter sleep, and the next minute… Read more
Dig Diary – Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Day Two
After the excitement and heavy manual labour of yesterday, Day Two is usually characterised by just heavy manual labour.
The metamorphosis of the Ness from black-shrouded ancient to… Read more
Dig Diary – Monday, July 14, 2014
Day One
And we’re back . . .
Welcome to the Ness of Brodgar for another season of the most fantastic archaeology in Northern Europe. Over the next six weeks,… Read more
Dig Diary — Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Day Twenty-Eight
Thank you and goodbye
Sorry, folks. The end is not nigh — it has arrived.
This is the last diary for the 2013 excavation season at the Ness… Read more
Dig Diary — Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Day Twenty-Seven
There’s no doubt that one of the glories of the Ness is the incised stone. It is literally everywhere on the site, in all sorts of contexts and… Read more
Dig Diary — Monday, August 19, 2013
Day Twenty-Six
Today is a race against time, with the last week of excavation already started and a large amount of necessary finalising work still to be carried out.
Sunday’s appalling… Read more
Dig Diary — Sunday, August 18, 2013
Day Twenty-Five
And the wild winds blew . . .
Today was Open Day at the Ness, and it rained, and howled and rained some more.
At… Read more
Dig Diary — Thursday, August 15, 2013
Day Twenty-Four
As many of you already know, the pottery at the Ness ranges in size from the gigantic to the tiny.
Today, we bring you news of one of… Read more
Dig Diary — Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Day Twenty-Three
Today was lovely and sunny. The sun shone brightly, and in particular, on our veteran digger Mic, who is working in the annex to Structure Twelve.
Mic is… Read more
Dig Diary — Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Day Twenty-Two
Contemplating an earlier site . . .
Today was one of those quiet, rather contemplative days, which often characterise the second-last week of an excavation.
The last week… Read more
Dig Diary — Monday, August 12, 2013
Day Twenty-One
‘A tremendous mystery’
Today, we have the revenge of Trench T.
Not through Egyptian-style curses, or even through unexpected and catastrophic falls of… Read more
Dig Diary — Friday, August 9
Day Twenty
The stone robbers
Structure Ten may have lost much of its internal walling to stone robbing in the distant past, but a clearer understanding of this dramatic structure… Read more
Dig Diary — Thursday, August 8, 2013
Day Nineteen
Today has been a good deal quieter than yesterday, which is just as well because extreme excitement (carved stone ball), extreme heat (all day) and extreme exertion… Read more
Dig Diary — Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Day Eighteen
The repertoire complete . . .
We have found a carved stone ball!
There you have it. We have ransacked our store of… Read more
