Structure Five revelations during reduced-scale 2021 excavation
2021
The 2021 excavation – the first since 2019, due to the pandemic – was on a much-reduced scale to previous seasons, with only Structure 10 and 12 in Trench… Read more
Category: Excavation
The final find of the season…before the cover-up began
Just when you think it’s all over, we have one last find to share with you – a delicately incised stone from Trench J.
We’ve been hard at work all… Read more
That’s excavation done for another year so thank you all
Dig Diary – Day Thirty-Three
Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Ah well, the inevitable has happened and this is our last day of excavation at the wonderful Ness of Brodgar.
For… Read more
One day left to visit the Ness before the site closes to the public
Dig Diary – Day Thirty-Two
Tuesday, August 10, 2021
How time flies.
The end of the season is nigh and if you’ve yet to visit the site, tomorrow is the… Read more
Another hammerstone and a site awash with planning frames
Dig Diary – Day Thirty-One
Monday, August 9, 2021
Well, readers, this is the beginning of the last week of the excavation campaign for this year.
We have been so… Read more
A decorated stone slab on the floor of Structure Thirty-Two
Dig Diary – Day Thirty
Friday, August 6, 2021
It’s been a quiet sort of day at The Ness, with the only real noise and disturbance coming from a… Read more
‘Painted’ stone in Structure Ten and illustrating our ‘puzzling pot’
Dig Diary – Day Twenty-Nine
Thursday, August 5, 2021
So here we are rapidly approaching the end of our penultimate week of excavation.
Knowing the end is night brings a… Read more
A puzzling piece of pottery!
Dig Diary – Day Twenty-Eight
Wednesday, August 4, 2021
Today has been busy, with sultry weather and, as close of play draws near, some dramatic thunder and lightning
However, work… Read more
Can you help us cover the site next week?
Do you have a couple of hours (or more) to spare on Thursday, August 12, or Friday, August 13?
Yes, it’s that time of year again when we call for… Read more
Dig Diary Extra: Dr Jo McKenzie successfully recovers first timber sample
A video of Jo recovering the first of two Neolithic timber samples from the interior of Structure Twelve today. Apologies for the sound quality – the Orcadian wind is… Read more
Objects of beauty and a mission accomplished
Dig Diary – Day Twenty-Seven
Tuesday, August 3, 2021
Imagine the situation.
At your feet are probably the only two examples of Neolithic timber inside a structure and in a… Read more
Preparing to recover prehistoric timber from Structure Twelve
Dig Diary – Day Twenty-Six
Monday, August 2, 2021
We have a very special offer today, not, we are sad to say, for diary readers, or even for visitors to… Read more
Neolithic timber has survived in Structure Twelve post-holes!
Dig Diary – Day Twenty-Five
Friday, July 30, 2021
Over the years of excavation the Ness has produced so many surprises that some archaeologists thought we had exhausted all the… Read more
Removal of Trench J ‘landmark’ yields animal bone deposit
Dig Diary – Day Twenty-Four
Thursday, July 29, 2021
An air of calm stillness hung over the Ness excavation today.
This was due, in part, to a thick veil of… Read more
Pottery sherds confirm early date for Structure Five
Dig Diary – Day Twenty-Three
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
We have really exciting news today from Structure Five – that enigmatic building huddled just inside the “Great Wall of Brodgar”… Read more
Shoddy building work, new procedures and a fossil fish!
Dig Diary – Day Twenty-Two
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Structure Twelve’s northern annex. It’s been called many things over the years – an add-on; a porch; a vestibule. No matter… Read more
Structure Five in 3D
A new, fully-interactive 3D model of Structure Five created by Trench J supervisor Paul Durdin.
Earlier models of the building, the earliest excavated on site to date, can be viewed… Read more
Traces of Neolithic snack found outside Structure Twelve
Dig Diary – Day Twenty-One
Monday, July 26, 2021
Well, here’s something new…rain!
Twenty-four hours ago the weather in Orkney was blistering. Temperatures reached over 70F (21C) and if you… Read more
Finds, floors and a film premiere!
Dig Diary – Day Twenty
Friday, July 23, 2021
The Ness has had many notable “firsts” but today we became one of the very, very few archaeological sites worldwide to… Read more
Dig Diary Extra – views from above
A selection of this afternoon’s drone photographs from Structure Twelve supervisor Jim Rylatt.… Read more
Saddle quern fragment recovered from Structure Twelve
Dig Diary – Day Nineteen
Thursday, July 22, 2021
We’ll begin today’s diary in Structure Ten, where dig director Nick and supervisors Jo and Sinead got together to formulate a… Read more
