Category: News
Neolithic bull putting in appearance at County Show
Just how big were the cattle consumed at the Ness of Brodgar in prehistory?
Drop by the County Show, in Kirkwall, tomorrow, Saturday and you’ll be able to see for… Read more
Links from the Art Hut…
At present we have three artists in residence-on-site.
Here are links to their blogs/websites etc:
Karen Wallis – website
Karen’s blog – featuring her drawings, sketches and paintings created on… Read more
A photographic record of the 2017 dig
A book documenting the 2017 dig at the Ness of Brodgar is now available.
Ness of Brodgar: Open to the Public, by Woody Musgrove, is a photographic record of the… Read more
Link: ‘Stunning’ decorated Neolithic stone discovered in Orkney
A link to the BBC article on this week’s finds from Structure Eight: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-49030379… Read more
Article link: The Orkney farmer who dug the world-famous Ness of Brodgar – 80 years before anyone else
A link to The Scotsman’s article on Peter Leith: https://www.scotsman.com/heritage/the-orkney-farmer-who-dug-the-world-famous-ness-of-brodgar-80-years-before-anyone-else-1-4951519
See also: 1925 ‘Brodgar stone’ was a taste of things to come… Read more
First bottle of Ness whisky raises £300 for dig funds
The first bottle of the limited-edition Ness of Brodgar’s Legacy whisky was auctioned at tonight’s pre-dig lecture and raised £300 for excavation funds.
Bidding, which started at £100, was brisk… Read more
Ness spatulas in the research spotlight…
The spatulate stone tools found at the Ness over the past few years are the subject of a new research project this summer.
Archaeology Institute UHI undergraduate Gary Lloyd… Read more
Welcome boost for Ness funds from Highland Park limited edition whisky launch
Ness excavation funds will benefit from the launch of a limited edition bottling of Highland Park whisky.
A percentage of the proceeds from sales of the 5,000 bottles of Ness… Read more
Ness of Brodgar 2018 sketchbook online
Artist-in-residence Karen Wallis’s 2018 sketchbook of drawings is now online, through the link on her website homepage at www.karenwallis.co.uk.
Karen will be back on site this summer for her fourth… Read more
More coloured pottery from the Ness
The remarkable Neolithic ceremonial site at the Ness of Brodgar has a habit of springing surprises on those who work there.
Ceramics specialist Roy Towers from the Archaeology Institute… Read more
Turning a petrosphere…
Long-time supporters of the Ness Michael and Sara Sinclair have posted a video showing the creation of one of their wooden petropsheres.
The auction of one of Michael’s… Read more
Orkney – The Queen’s Isles
(Since posting this, we’ve learned it is not available to viewers outside Europe. Sorry to our non-European followers)
A beautiful documentary on Orkney, from ARTE.
The film-makers visited the Ness… Read more
Decorated stone fragment recovered from flotation residues
Eagle-eyed Cecily has recovered another beautiful find from the flotation residues. After last week’s tiny bead, this time she has found a small fragment of thin flagstone, unusually decorated on both… Read more
Ness’s smallest bead measures just 2mm in diameter
Sometimes it’s the small things that astound — like this tiny stone bead discovered today.
Measuring circa 2mm in diameter, the bead must have taken a steady hand and a… Read more
Dig director bound for China
Ness of Brodgar site director Nick Card is bound for China next week, to take part in a workshop on heritage management.
Nick will travel to Xi’an for the event… Read more
New article ponders the mystery of carved stone balls
Ness director Nick Card is pictured (right) in an article in the latest edition of British Archaeology magazine on the enigmatic carved stone balls of Scotland.
Over 200 carved… Read more
3D printing the Ness of Brodgar
At the end of last season, we mentioned the tremendous work done by Jim Bright, our photogrammetry expert, and Mark Newton, who produces wonderful physical 3D models from his printer.… Read more
Helping inspire a new generation of archaeologists
An important element of the Ness of Brodgar excavations is allowing people to experience the site, the artefacts found to date and keeping everyone up to date with the latest… Read more
Volunteers – the dig’s unsung heroes
Over the years, you will have read about many of the volunteers who make the eight-week excavation season happen. They dig, work on finds, run the shop, meet and greet… Read more
