2020 Rhind lectures focus on Neolithic Scotland

The Stones of Stenness – one of the topics discussed in next week’s Rhind lectures. (Sigurd Towrie)

The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland’s annual Rhind lectures begin tomorrow, Sunday, and this year the focus is firmly on the Neolithic.

From December 13 until December 18, Dr Alison Sheridan will present a series of six online lectures, bringing together the most up-to-date research to show how Scotland’s early farming communities lived their lives and made sense of the world.

Orkney, and the Ness of Brodgar, take centre stage in Thursday’s lecture: Not just a load of old balls: Late Neolithic developments and the creation of a new world order in Orkney.

It “investigates the emergence of the competitive, adventurous, innovative elite in Orkney who were responsible for building Ness of Brodgar and other iconic structures” and explains “how Orkney took over from the Boyne Valley in Ireland as a major ceremonial centre, and how Orcadian innovations including Grooved Ware pottery were rapidly adopted elsewhere, as far away as south-west Ireland and the far south of England.”

For a lecture programme, and details of how to view them, click here.