| c5000BC | Evidence of Mesolithic activity on the Ness of Brodgar isthmus. |
| c3700BC | Earliest evidence of farming in Orkney. |
| c3600BC | Neolithic Settlements at Knap of Howar, Braes of Ha’Breck; Wideford Hill, Smerquoy; Stonehall. |
| c3500BC | Earliest date for activity at Ness of Brodgar complex. A carinated bowl sherd (Early Neolithic) under Structure Fourteen. |
| c3300BC | Structure Five at Ness of Brodgar (in Trench J adjacent to the ‘Great Wall of Brodgar’). |
| | Northern and southern boundary walls built – the southern wall on top of earlier structures. |
| | Early structures at Skara Brae. |
| c3200BC | Barnhouse settlement in use. |
| | Early structures built at Ness of Brodgar (underneath buildings currently visible in Trench P). |
| Northern boundary wall – the Great Wall of Brodgar – dismantled. |
| c3100BC | Ness of Brodgar Structures One, Eight, Twelve and Fourteen constructed/in use. |
| c3000BC | Stones of Stenness construction began (although the megaliths may not all have been erected at the same time). |
| c2900BC | Primary use of piered buildings at the Ness finishes. Some remain a focus of activity, but on a less grand scale. |
| | Barnhouse settlement abandoned. |
| Stones of Stenness in use. |
| | Structure Eight at Barnhouse settlement site built. |
| | Structure Ten at Ness of Brodgar built. |
| c2800BC | Structure Ten at Ness of Brodgar collapses and is rebuilt. |
| | Large piered structures at the Ness of Brodgar out of use. Infilled with midden and rubble and the site abandoned, except for Structure Ten. |
| c2700BC | Maeshowe ditch dug. Before or after chamber? |
| c2600BC | Ring of Brodgar ditch dug. Before or after stones raised? |
| c2500BC | Structure Ten hearth at Ness of Brodgar reused briefly. |
| c2450BC | Skara Brae abandoned. |
| c2400BC | The remains of Structure Ten at the Ness of Brodgar were the focus of a massive feast. |
| | This saw the remains of at least 400 cattle placed in the passageway surrounding the building – marking the end of the Ness and the start of something new? |
| | Single sherd of early Bronze Age Beaker pottery and Bronze Age arrowhead found in the layers just above the bone deposit – the Neolithic in Orkney is drawing to a close. |
| c700BC -AD200 | Some time in the Iron Age, the huge midden mound to the south-east of the Ness of Brodgar main site was remodelled (now in Trench T). |
| | Not only was an Iron Age ditch cut into the mound, but a revetment wall, on the upslope side, was enhanced by a large bank, itself held at the rear by another revetment wall. |
| Feb 1925 | ‘Brodgar Stone’ found while ploughing Ness of Brodgar site. |
| Apr 2003 | Notched stone and evidence of Structure One found while ploughing Ness of Brodgar site. |
| Aug 2024 | After 20 years, fieldwork at the Ness of Brodgar site ends. The focus is now on the post-excavation analysis of the data. |
