Evidence of (some) fish on the menu in Structure Twelve

Monday, March 23, 2026 (2:43 PM)

Structure Twelve fish remains. (📷 Anne Mitchell)

Fish do not appear to have been a major element of the Neolithic diet. As zooarchaeologist Dr Jen Harland noted in Ness of Brodgar: As it Stands:

“Fishing and shellfish collection in Neolithic Orkney were never major occupations, though people made use of these resources when needed, perhaps to expand the diet, or when terrestrial resources were scarce.”

This conclusion is supported by the scarcity of fish remains at most excavated Neolithic sites in Orkney — including the Ness, where less than 2,000 fish bones have been recovered to date. Although preservation conditions at the Ness may partly explain the low numbers, the survival of small mammal bone suggests that the absence of fish remains is indicative of more than just taphonomic loss.

Ongoing analysis of environmental samples continues to add modest quantities to the Ness assemblage. The most recent batch, from Structure Twelve, includes some of the largest fish bones found from the site so far. Even these, however, are fairly small, consistent with the scale of earlier finds.

A preliminary assessment by specialist Jen Harland indicates that the new material belongs to the salmonidae family — and, given their size and the apparent preference for freshwater species previously observed at the Ness and at nearby Skara Brae, are probably freshwater trout.

The majority of the Ness fish assemblage comes from Structure Ten, where at least 19 fish were deposited late in the building’s life. These deposits were dominated by eel heads and tails, with few of the corresponding body bones present.