Focus on finds: A natural source for Structure Seventeen’s stone sphere?
The stone ball found in Structure Seventeen in 2024 may have been formed by the action of water in a Scottish river. Read more
Category: Post-excavation
Geophysics day three – thumbs up from Time Team stalwart
Day three and we've made great progress as well as welcoming our first group of trainees to site. Read more
Geophysics project to resurvey entire site gets off to a cracking start
Our two-week project to geophysically survey the entire Ness of Brodgar excavation site got under way today. Read more
Fingerprint specialist drops in at Ness HQ during Scottish road trip
Professor Kent Fowler, from the University of Manitoba, paid us a visit last week during his road trip around Scotland. Read more
More examples of the ‘complex and endlessly varied’ pottery from the Ness
More beautiful examples of Neolithic ceramics catalogued during the post-excavation process. Read more
Worked-stone specialist’s welcome return to the Ness
We were delighted to welcome our worked-stone specialist, Ann Clarke, back to Ness HQ this week. Read more
Puzzling but precise – intrigued by impressions on pottery sherds
We find fingerprints, cord, basketry and other impressions left in damp pottery while pieces were made in the Neolithic but some new examples have left us puzzled and intrigued. Read more
20 years of discoveries – Nick at the Current Archaeology Live! conference
Jo Bourne's report from the Current Archaeology Live! conference in London at the weekend, where site director Nick was the keynote speaker. Read more
Three-week internship examining the Ness of Brodgar’s stone discs
Some thoughts on the Ness of Brodgar's stone discs from intern Maria van de Fliert. Read more
A pot is for storage and cooking…right?
Jan Blatchford on her surprising discovery - a cordon running across the base of a pot's interior. Read more
At the cutting edge in Orkney – axes from the Ness of Brodgar
Post-doctoral researcher Dr Patrick Pederson on his work with the Ness of Brodgar axes. Read more
Burnt bone in Structure Eight and beyond – adding fuel to the fires?
Jackson Clark on his MRes findings from examining the burnt bone from Structure Eight. Read more
Getting to the bottom of Structure Five’s central hearth
PhD candidate Sarah-Jane Haston on her experience of excavating Structure Five's central hearth in 2024. Read more
Counting cattle – Ness paper presented at Oxford conference
Dr Julia Cussans presented a well-received paper on the animal bone assemblage at the Ness at the 44th Association for Environmental Archaeology conference in Oxford. Read more
Specialists discuss post-excavation strategy for pottery assemblage
Our pottery specialists gathered this week to discuss the way forward with the site's huge ceramic assemblage. Read more
Cereal Journey 2 – stable isotope analysis of Ness grain
The second part of an article from Sarah-Jane Haston, who is looking at the charred plant remains from Structure Eight as part of her PhD research. Here she focuses on the isotopic analysis of Ness cereals. Read more
Cereal Journey 1 – radiocarbon dating the grain samples from Structure Eight
The first of the two-part article from Sarah-Jane Haston, who is looking at the charred plant remains from Structure Eight as part of her PhD research. Here she focuses on radiocarbon dating. Read more
Busy times! It’s a veritable research hot-house at the Ness dig HQ
It’s turned into an exceptionally busy week here at Brodgar. Dig HQ is full of ongoing research. And that’s a very good thing. Read more
