Roadwork in 2013 revealed structure beyond the ‘Great Wall’

Visitors to the Ness of Brodgar site were always amazed to learn that we had excavated less than ten per cent of the Neolithic complex.

The sheer scale of the site became more evident over the years, with geophysics suggesting more buildings to the north-west, some distance beyond the “Great Wall of Brodgar”.

A fine example was exposed in 2013, during work to insert a traffic passing place on the section of road directly opposite the site entrance.

A test pit dug before construction began revealed a section of walling.

As the pit was extended it became apparent that, architecturally, the wall displayed the same high-quality masonry encountered in some of the excavated Ness buildings.

The wall, which was exposed for over six metres, survived to a height of over 0.4 metres with regularly coursed masonry of neatly faced, quarried stone. It stood on a stepped foundation akin to that encountered in Structures Ten and Twenty-Seven at the Ness and Structure Eight at the nearby Barnhouse settlement.

It is worth noting that another example of a stepped foundation is visible in the exposed sections of the Dyke o’ Sean, to the north-west of the Ring of Brodgar.

Within the confines of the small exploratory trench it was not clear what the walling represented – the interior of the structure it defined now lies beneath the Brodgar road.

But its position outside the “Great Wall”, together with later geophysical surveys, confirmed that the northern boundary only related to part of the Ness complex’s early life.

The remains were carefully recorded before being covered and preserved in situ under the new passing place.