Can you spare a few hours to help us cover the site this week?
Do you have a couple of hours (or more) to spare on Thursday, August 18, or Friday, August 19?
Yes, it’s that time of year again when we call for … Read more
The Ness of Brodgar complex
The Ness of Brodgar site has been under excavation since 2004, revealing a massive complex of monumental Neolithic buildings dating from the centuries around 3000BC.
Without parallel in Atlantic Europe, the Ness of Brodgar’s three hectares are filled with huge stone structures containing spectacular finds.
These have made the Ness one of the most important archaeological excavations in the world today, changing our understanding of the culture and beliefs of Neolithic Orkney and shining a new light on the prehistory of northern Europe.
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.
Link: Sounds of the Ness – by Suzy Angus
A sound poem for the Ness of Brodgar, recorded on site last month and featuring the voices of volunteer diggers, UHI Archaeology Institute staff and students from around the world.… Read more
Dig Diary – Fond farewells and another ‘butterfly’ from Structure Ten
Day Thirty
Friday, August 12, 2022
Today is the last day of our penultimate week and it means that we must say goodbye to a number of friends and colleagues… Read more
Dig Diary – Photography, planning and racing against time
Day Twenty-Nine
Thursday, August 11, 2022
After an incredibly busy day on site, we must apologise tonight for a very, very truncated diary.
It has been all go since we… Read more
Dig Diary – All hands on deck for pre-photography cleaning sessions
Day Twenty-Eight
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
For all those fed-up with Ness weather reports – look away now!
For all those who are kinder souls, who care deeply about the… Read more
Dig Diary – A polished stone axe that looks decidedly like a macehead
Day Twenty-Seven
Tuesday, August 9, 2022
You can always rely on the Ness to wait till the end of the day before yielding an artefact that, quite literally, takes your… Read more
Dig Diary – A timber building beneath Structure Five?
Day Twenty-Six
Monday, August 8, 2022
We’ll start today with one of our least favourite, but most frequent, subjects.
You’ve guessed – it’s the weather.
It is not our fault… Read more
Dig Diary Extra – 3d model of Structure One’s central orthostat
Another 3d model from Paul Durdin, this time the central orthostat in Structure One.
This stone was inserted into the building’s northern hearth and was one of three tied into… Read more
Dig Diary Extra – New 3d models of Structures Nineteen and Thirty-Two
Two new annotated models by Trench J supervisor Paul Durdin, showing the remains of Structures Nineteen and Thirty-Two.
… Read more
Dig Diary Extra – Bird’s-eye view of Structure Twenty-Seven
Video and photographs from Professor Scott Pike, showing Structure Twenty-Seven in all its glory yesterday.… Read more
Dig Diary – Whale vertebra found in one of two new Structure Five post-holes
Day Twenty-Five
Friday, August 5, 2022
No sooner do you find one pair of post-holes than another pair comes along!
No, this is not a hallowed old archaeological truism, but… Read more
Dig Diary – “Surely the most beautiful Neolithic stone wall anywhere!”
Day Twenty-Four
Thursday, August 4, 2022
“That must surely be the most immaculately constructed and beautiful Neolithic stone wall anywhere!”
The words of site director Nick Card while viewing the… Read more
Dig Diary – incised stone, post-holes, pottery and bones
Day Twenty-Three
Wednesday, August 3, 2022
The weather (yes, the weather again) played a major part in Ness operations this morning. After a bright start it rained heavily, and Trench… Read more
Link: Wonderful things hiding in plain sight: art at the Ness of Brodgar
A new blog post on the subject of Neolithic art at the Ness of Brodgar is now available on the Ola Gorie website.
The post, Wonderful things hiding in plain… Read more
Link: Neolithic treasures at the Ness
A showcase of Fionn McArthur’s photographs from his site visit last month is now available in a new post from Orkney.com.… Read more
Dig Diary – A day of discoveries!
Day Twenty-Two
Tuesday, August 2, 2022
It has been a day of starkly changeable weather.
We endured a damp start. Followed by sunshine and then rain again. Accompanying this was… Read more
Dig Diary – Second step-like feature built into the ‘Great Wall of Brodgar’
Day Twenty-One
Monday, August 1, 2022
Some of our diggers have worked in hot countries, which is just as well as the Ness today had a very close resemblance to… Read more
Dig Diary – Glorious weather sees crowds flock to Open Day
Day Twenty
Sunday, July 31, 2022
That’s been a busy day!
Almost 1,000 people visited the Ness of Brodgar excavation to see the archaeologists in action and take part in… Read more
Join us on Sunday for Open Day
Our 2022 Open day takes place on Sunday, July 31, on site, in the Stenness school and Maeshowe visitor centre.
We hope to see many of you on the day… Read more
Dig Diary – new wall section adds to the puzzle of Trench T
Day Nineteen
Thursday, July 28, 2022
We start today with an important reminder.
Because our open day is on Sunday, the excavation team have been given tomorrow off and the… Read more
Dig Diary – There’s more to Structure Twenty-Seven than meets the eye
Day Eighteen
Wednesday, July 28, 2022
It is an indisputable fact of archaeological life at the Ness that Structure Twenty-Seven in Trench T is an almighty puzzle. It is being… Read more
