Wednesday wildlife – who’s watching who?
This week’s photographs from site director Nick Card.
… Read more
From 2004, 20 years of excavation on the Ness of Brodgar revealed a huge complex of monumental Neolithic buildings from the centuries around 3000BC.
Without parallel in Atlantic Europe, the site’s three hectares are filled with huge stone structures containing spectacular finds.
These made the Ness one of the most important archaeological sites in the world today, changing our understanding of Neolithic Orkney and shining a new light on the prehistory of northern Europe.
Fieldwork ended in 2024 and the focus is now on the post-excavation analysis of the data gathered. This will lead to full publication with much more available online.
In addition, we will continue working with local communities and schools to develop educational and other resources.
The project is mainly funded through the generosity of the public through our two supporting charities, the Ness of Brodgar Trust and the American Friends.
Video: The Ness on History Hit TV
Historian Tristan Hughes visited the Ness of Brodgar this summer, to film for the History Hit TV programme Mysteries of Prehistoric Scotland: Stone Age Orkney.
Although the full programme… Read more
Recollections of working stone: part one
The first part of Ness volunteer Lorraine Clay's foray into experimental archaeology over the summer of 2022. Read more
Wednesday wildlife – after the equinox
Autumn is well and truly upon us. And with the passing of the vernal equinox, the dark returns.
But taking advantage of the bright spells between rain and gales, site… Read more
Structure Five – updated and rewritten
Our understanding of Structure Five, the oldest building excavated on site to date, has come on in leaps and bounds.
So we’ve completely updated its entry to reflect this.… Read more
Wednesday wildlife – look to the skies
A little later than usual, but here’s this week’s selection of photographs from site director Nick Card.… Read more
2022 excavation at the Ness commended in Scottish Parliament
Orkney MSP Liam McArthur has lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament welcoming the successful completion of another excavation season at the Ness of Brodgar.
This is the third time… Read more
Wednesday wildlife – stoats, skarfies and selkies
This week’s photographs from site director Nick Card.… Read more
Structures Seventeen and Eighteen updated
Structures Seventeen and Eighteen are two earlier buildings that pre-date, and lie beneath, Structure Eight. During the 2022 excavation season, one of the focuses was to reveal more of the… Read more
Link: Prehistoric Orkney grain sheds light on Neolithic farming in Scotland
House Three at the Braes of Ha’Breck showing the areas of burnt grain. (📷 Antonia Thomas/Dan Lee)Our UHI Archaeology Institute colleagues Dr Antonia Thomas and Dan Lee are the co-authors… Read more
Wednesday wildlife – creatures of land, sky and water
This week’s selection of wildlife photographs from site director Nick Card.… Read more
An unfinished ‘butterfly’ slab from Structure Seventeen?
Over the past 17 years, excavation at the Ness of Brodgar has revealed hundreds of examples of Neolithic “art”.
These vary from light, ephemeral markings to deeply, and precisely,… Read more
Link: ‘Neolithic culinary traditions revealed by cereal, milk and meat lipids in pottery from Scottish crannogs’
A team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, has uncovered intriguing new insights into the diet of people living in Neolithic Britain and found evidence that cereals, including… Read more
Wednesday wildlife returns…
After its summer break, Wednesday wildlife is back with a selection of images from site director Nick Card.
For new readers, the Ness of Brodgar is renowned for its wildlife… Read more
