STOP PRESS – Decorated stone recovered from interior of Structure Eight

The incised stone recovered from the interior of Structure Eight today. The stone was part of an earlier, underlying building, Structure Seventeen.  Click the image for a larger version. (Sigurd Towrie)

Structure Eight – or more correctly an earlier building lying beneath it – produced another stunning example of Neolithic decorate stone today.

The stone, pictured above, was spotted by Lorna in the extraordinary light that raked across the site this morning.

It features four bands of decoration, but areas appear to have been worn away while the stone was in situ during its lifetime. Although found in Structure Eight, the stone was part of one of two buildings beneath it, Structure Seventeen, elements of which are protruding through the later construction’s floor levels.

It is very reminiscent of the 1925 “Brodgar Stone” found it what would become to be known as Structure Eight and the example recovered in August 2015.

The decorated stone in situ this morning. Click the image for a larger version. (Jo Bourne)