Wednesday wildlife – birdwatching
Another selection of photographs showcasing the wildlife around the Ness 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.
Wednesday wildlife – on the wing
This week’s selection of wildlife photographs from around the Ness of Brodgar by site director Nick Card.… Read more
Structures Five and Thirty-Two…
Our understanding of Structures Five and Thirty-Two in Trench J advanced considerably during the 2021 excavation season.
As a result, we’ve updated the Structure Five page and added a new… Read more
Wednesday wildlife – birds around Brodgar
This week’s showcase of photographs from site director Nick Card.
… Read more
The Norse on the Ness
A few weeks ago conversation at excavation HQ drifted from matters Ness and the Neolithic to apparent Viking Age runes found in the 1920s at the nearby Brodgar farm. Read more
Wednesday wildlife – a selection of welcome and not-so-welcome sights
This week’s photographic selection from Ness of Brodgar excavation director Nick Card.
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Geophysics suggests the Ness may not be as unique as once thought
When the Ness of Brodgar was discovered in 2003, it was without parallel. But we now suspect it might not be. Read more
Wednesday wildlife is back…
After its summer break, we’re back with a new series of Wednesday Wildlife – weekly gallery of photographs taken around the Ness of Brodgar by excavation director Nick Card.
Click… Read more
Touching our ancestors – the Ness and the SPOTtimespotTIME artwork
By Elaine Robinson
Having had a lifelong interest in archaeology, imagine my excitement from the point of view as an artist who has been collecting fingerprints since 2015, when my… Read more
Enclosing the midden mound – Iron Age activity at the Ness excavation site
The Ness complex was abandoned at the end of the Neolithic, around 2500BC, but at least one section was brought back into use, some 1,800 years later, in the Iron Age. Read more
Video – ‘Why Rocks?’
Orkney International Science Festival talk by Dr Martha Johnson, highlighting the Ness of Brodgar rocks that don’t fit the local geology, and showing clues to their origins. Read more
Video – ‘The Ness in Rock and Stone’
Today's Orkney International Science Festival talk featuring Ness of Brodgar site director Nick Card, Dr Ann Clark and Dr Antonia Thomas of the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute. Read more
Fourth pottery fingerprint belonged to an adult male
Examination of a fourth fingerprint found on pottery sherds from the Ness of Brodgar suggests it was left by an adult male.The analysis by Professor Kent Fowler, the director of… Read more
