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
Category: Post-excavation
‘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
Tiny bead fragment from Structure Five
The ongoing processing of environmental samples from the site has yielded another little treasure - another tiny stone bead fragment. Read more
‘Rocks with a story to tell’ – analysing wall composition of Ness structures
Geologist Dr Martha Johnson on her research into the wall composition of the Ness buildings. Read more
Incised stone fragment turns up during environmental sample processing
Working through the Ness environmental samples, environmental archaeologist Cecily Webster has found another tiny fragment of decorated stone. Read more
Link: Biographies of Orcadian Neolithic axes paper now available
The first paper from the 'At the Cutting Edge: The Biographies of Orcadian Neolithic Axes' project been published in the journal Antiquity. Read more
Out of chaos comes order – research continues on Ness stone tools
UHI Archaeology Institute PhD student Gary Lloyd on his ongoing research into coarse stone tools at the Ness. Read more
The riddle of the red deer – the research continues…
UHI Archaeology Institute PhD student Kath Page outlines her ongoing research into red deer in prehistory and at the Ness. Read more
Sherd nerd life – a clay portal to the past and a lottery winÂ
A lovely piece by journalist and Ness volunteer Huw Williams on this summer's pottery triage project. Read more
A clay bead? Or something else entirely?
Looking at a clay object under investigation this week. Is it a rare example of a clay bead? Or something completely different? Read more
‘Sherd Nerds’ still going strong…
Only six weeks? The Ness of Brodgar sherd nerds still going strong in our pottery triage project. Read more
Child’s tooth found during Structure Seventeen sample processing
Another milk tooth - the second found to date - has been recovered during Structure Seventeen's sample processing. Read more
Letting the dust settle – pottery triage project comes to an end
Our six-week pottery triage project came to an end this afternoon. A big thank-you to all the volunteers who made their way back to Ness HQ to help out. Read more
