No sign of Ness interest waning as visitors flock to Kirkwall open day
On Saturday, the final day of the 2026 Orkney Archaeology Festival, we were delighted by the number of visitors to our open day in Kirkwall. Read more
Category: Post-excavation
Ness events at the 2026 Orkney Science Festival
A reminder that the 2026 Orkney International Science Festival's "Ness Day" kicks off at 10am tomorrow, Tuesday, September 8. Read more
A second tiny bead from Structure Five’s occupation deposits
The processing of environmental samples from the site has produced a second tiny bead fragment from Structure Five. Read more
Grooved Ware pottery sherds from Structure Forty-Four
The few pottery sherds from the 2026 excavation are decorated (incised and cordons), had an organic temper and undoubtedly derived from Grooved Ware vessels, providing a date of at least 3200BC. Read more
Third example of a child’s milk tooth confirmed from Trench T deposit
Post-excavation work continues and has produced our third example of a child's milk tooth. Read more
Second example of stamped decoration found on pottery sherd
Sarah Carter on another pottery sherd with stamped decoration from the midden in the vicinity of Structure Forty. Read more
Plant remains project benefits from national RICHeS funding programme
A project to assess some of the carbonised plant remains from the Ness of Brodgar is one of 43 to receive funding through the first Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science (RICHeS) Access Fund. Read more
Another Neolithic fingerprint turns up during pottery triage operations
Our 2026 pottery triage project is now into its fourth week and this morning Heather hit the jackpot with another Neolithic fingerprint. Read more
‘Sherd Nerds’ back for a second season of pottery triage project
After the resounding success of the 2025 season, our nine-week pottery triage project got under way this week, with volunteers continuing to work through the Ness’ massive ceramics assemblage. Read more
Prehistoric ‘jigsaw’ reveals stunning example of Neolithic pottery decoration
An update on the beautiful pottery vessel from the "megadrain" in 2024. Read more
Bits and pieces – putting together a Neolithic pottery puzzle
Volunteer Joanne Greaves on her recent work piecing together fragments of a Neolithic vessel from underneath Structure Thirty-Four. Read more
Neolithic fingerprints spotted on fragment of miniature pot
Another two fingerprints have been found, this time on a tiny miniature pot from Trench X. Read more
Another Structure Five bead and a decorated stone fragment from Ten…
Another two of the more spectacular finds from the ongoing processing of environmental samples from the Ness. Read more
Interrogating data with the Ness GIS
The amazing GIS (Global Information System) tool is proving its weight in gold as a means to organise, manipulate and interrogate the mountains of data we have gathered over the last 20 plus years. Read more
Secondary use of pottery vessels at the Ness of Brodgar?
Former ChemArch PhD student Julia Becher has published her first thesis paper in Organic Geochemistry, and it is open access! Read more
Evidence of (some) fish on the menu in Structure Twelve
A small number of probable trout bones have been found during environmental sample processing from Structure Twelve. Read more
