An aquatic attraction at the Ness
For a few days now this little character has been spotted regularly from the excavation site, swimming around the banks of the Harray loch.
The otter seems to be as… 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.
Dig Diary – Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Day Thirty-Three
‘Compulsive building, re-building, alteration and improvement’
After the massive cleaning exercise for yesterday’s photo sessions, the Ness is looking magnificent today in the sunshine.
The buildings are sharply… Read more
Time is running out for free tours of the Ness dig
With the 2019 drawing to a close next Friday, August 23, 2019, there’s not much time left if you want to take advantage of our free site tours.
The last… Read more
Some of the fruits of our labours…
Cleaning Trench P from top to bottom was completed today and the photography sessions began in earnest.
Here are some of the images from Professor Scott Pike. Click on any… Read more
Dig Diary – Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Day Thirty-Two
More cleaning and photography
Not much to report today – cleaning continued in Trench P in preparation for this afternoon’s marathon photography session. And when complete the buildings… Read more
Trench P from above – preview shots
For the first time in years, all of Trench P has been completely uncovered and cleaned thoroughly ahead of overhead photography tomorrow.
The cleaning work will be finished tomorrow morning… Read more
Dig Diary – Monday, August 12, 2019
Day Thirty-One
Clean-up operation in Trench P
It’s been an incredibly busy day on site, with the efforts of all remaining 60 plus diggers diverted to a massive clean-up of… Read more
Volunteers needed to help cover the site
It’s that time again.
With just eight days left of the 2019 excavation, we’re looking for some hardy volunteers to help us cover the site.
By next Wednesday, August 21,… Read more
Dig Diary – Friday, August 9, 2019
Day Thirty
Wind, puzzling structures and a Neolithic bull!
To be honest today has been a bit of a struggle.
The day started grey and windy and became very windy… Read more
Neolithic bull putting in appearance at County Show
Just how big were the cattle consumed at the Ness of Brodgar in prehistory?
Drop by the County Show, in Kirkwall, tomorrow, Saturday and you’ll be able to see for… Read more
Drone images – Structures One, Twenty-Seven and Trench T
As we mentioned earlier, Professor Scott Pike launched his drone for record shots of Trench T as well as Structure One.
Here are a few of the day’s photographs. Click… Read more
Day Twenty-Nine in pictures…
A few photographs from today by Jo Bourne and Sigurd Towrie.
Click the images for larger versions.… Read more
Incised flagstone – more pictures
The light this morning was slightly better than yesterday, so here’s a few more pictures of easily reached sections of the incised flagstone found in the cell outside Structure Twelve’s… Read more
