Dig Diary – new wall section adds to the puzzle of Trench T
Day Nineteen
Thursday, July 28, 2022
We start today with an important reminder.
Because our open day is on Sunday, the excavation team have been given tomorrow off and the… Read more
Dig Diary – There’s more to Structure Twenty-Seven than meets the eye
Day Eighteen
Wednesday, July 28, 2022
It is an indisputable fact of archaeological life at the Ness that Structure Twenty-Seven in Trench T is an almighty puzzle. It is being… Read more
Dig Diary Extra – Drone footage from Trench T
Two videos from Professor Scott Pike, of Willamette University, Oregon, USA, showing a drone ascent from Structure Twenty-Seven in Trench T – one ending with a view to Hoy… Read more
Dig Diary – Human bone in Structure Eight and another (maybe not new) incised stone
The summer sun illuminates the incised stone between Structures Eleven/Nineteen and One this afternoon. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)
Day SeventeenTuesday, July 26, 2022
We begin today with some momentous news.
Excavating… Read more
Dig Diary – curvilinear decoration in Structure Five and a Structure Twenty-Seven revelation
Day Sixteen
Monday, July 25, 2022
We know that we seem to have been unusually fixated on the weather in recent weeks but today has confirmed that we are… Read more
View all of Trench P in glorious 3d
Not all of Trench P has been opened this year, with Structures Twelve and Fourteen remaining under their protective covers.
A number of visitors to the site have asked… Read more
Dig Diary – Major rethink over Structure Eight’s entrance
Day Fifteen
Friday, July 22, 2022
We have reached the end of week three.
It seems that time appears to go faster at the Ness than any other place, but… Read more
Dig Diary Extra – 3d model of Structures Eight and Eighteen
A new model from Professor Scott Pike showing the northern end of Structure Eight, with Structure Eighteen, one of its predecessors, visible within and outside the building.… Read more
Dig Diary – What a day! Flint, incised art, dressers and a polissoir
Day Fourteen
Thursday, July 21, 2022
Conditions at the Ness were grey and damp as the diggers began arriving on site this morning.
But despite this gloomy start… Read more
Dig Diary – Trench J’s largest axe brings 2022 total to three
Day Thirteen
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
Today at the Ness was cool, breezy and pleasant, making perfect conditions for digging with not even a single midgie to disrupt proceedings.
… Read more
Dig Diary – Sunshine, hearths, haematite and post-holes
Day Twelve
Tuesday, July 19, 2022
What a glorious day. Both in terms of weather and archaeology.
Weary diggers climbed from the trenches at the end of a… Read more
Dig Diary – Probing the ‘mega-drain’ while more of Structure Eighteen is revealed
Day Eleven
Monday, July 18, 2022
Orkney’s wildlife gave a vanload of our diggers a wonderful start to the day. As they drove along the road just south of… Read more
Dig Diary Extra – 3d model of Structure Thirty-Two
A 3d photogrammetry model of Structure Thirty-Two by Trench J supervisor, Paul Durdin.
Thirty-Two is a later construction, built on the rubble of Structure Five’s south-western end.… Read more
Dig Diary – Rubble area produces our first decorated stone of 2022
Day Ten
Friday, July 15, 2022
We have a new decorated stone!
It may be Friday and it may be (somewhat unbelievably) the end of the… Read more
Dig Diary Extra – The Ness of Brodgar excavation from above
A selection of drone photographs taken yesterday by Professor Scott Pike, Willamette University, Oregon.
Click on the thumbnails for a larger version.
… Read more
Dig Diary – A day of drains on a site abuzz with activity
Day Nine
Thursday, July 14, 2022
There is no finer place to be on a pleasant day that an archaeological excavation that is positively buzzing with enthusiasm and activity.
And… Read more
