Ness open day sees hundreds flock to Stenness school

Fears that no excavation would see no-one turn out for today’s open day proved unfounded, with hundreds of people flocking to the Stenness school.

The first visitors arrived before we’d officially opened and it was heartening to see a steady stream throughout the day – all interested in learning more about the project and our ongoing post-excavation.

Some were even able to witness a discovery unfold when Carolyn, cleaning a recording pottery as part of our pottery triage project, revealed a series of “maggots” – short lengths of plied cord impressions – on a pot base.

This indicates that the pot stood on, or was held within, some form of basketry while the clay was still wet.

All in all, it was a very successful day. Our thanks to everyone who dropped by the schools and to all our specialists, who gave up their time to come along and help.