Incised stone fragment turns up during environmental sample processing

Working through the Ness environmental samples, environmental archaeologist Cecily Webster has found another tiny fragment of decorated stone.

During excavation, samples were taken from each context across the site. These were transferred to the UHI Archaeology Institute, in Kirkwall, where Cecily runs each sample through a flotation unit.

The incised stone emerged last week from a sample taken from Structure One’s floor deposits.

One side of the tiny, flat fragment shows a section of the “stacked chevrons” design – very similar to a piece Cecily found in 2019 – but look closer and you’ll see a tiny band of zigzags running across both sides.

Ness afficionados will recall that it was in the north end of Structure One that a larger portion of a beautifully incised, thin slab was found in 2023.