Archaeology around the Ness of Brodgar

Howe, Stromness – a hub of Neolithic and Iron Age activity

Ahead of planned agricultural improvements, the prehistoric site at Howe was excavated from 1978 until 1982 – an operation that revealed a complex series of occupation episodes spanning the Neolithic to Iron Age …

Chasing the ‘Brodgar road’ – the claimed route of the stone circle megaliths

For many years I have been fascinated by an “old tradition” of a prehistoric, eight-mile-long track known as the “Brodgar Road”. This, it was said, marked the route of the megaliths bound for the Ring …
Staneyhill Long Horned Cairn

Staneyhill long horned cairn

Across the waters of the Harray loch, just over two miles north-east of the Ness of Brodgar complex, is one of the few known Orcadian examples of a Neolithic long horned cairn …
The Ring of Brodgar. (📷 Jim Richardson)

Link: ‘Orkney – Centre of the Stone Age’ podcast

A new podcast from History Hit, looking at Orkney’s Neolithic remains, including Maeshowe, the Ring of Brodgar, Skara Brae and a section on the Ness of Brodgar, featuring Nick Card and Roy Towers …

The Staneyhill stone (and round about)

A solitary megalith towers over a Neolithic quarry about 350 metres to the south-east of the Staneyhill horned cairn …
https://canmore.org.uk/collection/1659069

The Ness of Onston enclosure

North of the Unstan stalled cairn is an enigmatic earthwork that separates the landward side of the Ness of Onston from the headland. This arc of two banks and ditches runs across the width of …
Bookan chambered cairn, Orkney. (ORCA)

The Bookan Chambered Cairn

At some point in the Neolithic a small, multi-chambered structure was built on high ground at the north-western end of the Ness of Brodgar …
(Picture: Jim Rylatt)

The Ness of Brodgar from above

Structure Twelve supervisor Jim Rylatt is in Orkney at present, juggling hundreds of contexts to piece together a phased timeline for the building. On one of the few reasonably pleasant days we’ve had recently, Jim …
Picture: Tim Winterburn

Spirits of the Standing Stones

The early antiquarians who documented Orkney’s ancient monuments paid little attention to the local beliefs surrounding the sites …
Maeshowe Solstice (Historic Environment Scotland)

Video: Maeshowe and the winter solstice

This Friday, December 22, is the winter solstice – a day intextricably linked to Maeshowe in Stenness …