Dig Diary – the earlier buildings just keep coming!

Day Twenty-Eight
Tuesday, July 30, 2024

We’ve not complained about the weather for a while – simply because it’s been gorgeous. And throwing back the bedroom curtains this morning your diary writer was greeted with yet another morning of golden sunshine…

But looks can deceive. And they did. Arriving on site with the Willamette students about 8.40am, it was evidently clear that although the sun was shining, a fierce south-westerly wind was roaring across the Loch of Stenness.

Now, a little bit of wind is quite useful at the Ness.

It helps dry out wet surfaces and, most importantly, keeps the dreaded midgies at bay. But today’s was one of those energy-sapping, paperwork-blowing, eye-watering winds that are just sent to test archaeologists.

With the spell of lovely dry weather we’ve had the site is particularly dry so the buffeting winds continually sent up clouds of dust and debris across beautifully cleaned floors.

It makes the simplest of tasks wearisome as you are constantly fighting for your balance while doing the simplest of tasks.

And poor Sigurd was fighting a losing battle while trying to deliver the 11am and 1pm site tours.

His nifty electronic voice amplifier (which, as he tells tour groups regularly, was not designed to be used in Orkney) was really struggling in the conditions, the whistling gusts either drowning out his voice or buffeting the microphone, no matter which way he turned his back.

So it’s quite safe to say that it was a weary bunch that were homeward bound at the close of business.

But despite the constant wind we’ve had yet another incredibly productive day – the main theme emerging from my notes being earlier structures!

Ones we knew about and even more that we didn’t.

If you’ve been on one of Sigurd’s tours (one where you could hear), read our books or the numerous website posts, you’ll know that the piered buildings visible in Trench P are just the tip of the iceberg.

Dating from around 3100BC, these (e.g. Structures One, Eight, Twelve) sit on top of earlier buildings (e.g. Structures Seventeen, Eighteen and Twenty-Eight). You’ll also know that the earliest dated activity on site is c. 3500BC. So we’ve gone of the assumption that there are earlier buildings still…

And a few of these even older buildings reared their heads today.

Sitting outside the south-western corner of Structure Twelve this afternoon, supervisor Jim continued his quest to record all the building’s wall faces.

By clearing-up time, he was looking perturbed.

“What d’you have?” I asked.

“It seems we’ve reached the point that when you clear a few courses of masonry out here you find another building!” Or words to that effect.

Jim had revealed the walling of a building that was probably contemporary with Structure Twenty-Eight, Twelve’s predecessor, and underneath at least two earlier constructions.

The nature of these earlier buildings is not clear from the two distinct wall courses exposed, but it does confirm the long history of construction and reconstruction on site.

Meanwhile, in Structure Seventeen – one of Eight’s two predecessors – Alice, Ceiridwen and McKenna have revealed stonework that may also relate to an earlier building – including an orthostat featuring deeply incised decoration.

The large, apparently worked, slab probably features other incised motifs, but these were not clearly visible this afternoon. The stone will be washed tomorrow, so we’ll see what else is revealed.

Next door, at the northern end of Structure One, Emma and Elena has revealed more of Structure Forty, including what appears to be a paved surface and alcove. Or is it a doorway or drain? It’s difficult to say from such a small sondage, but we’ll see what turns up.

With Structure Forty, we’re never going to get its full floorpan in the time we’ve got left but hope we will be able to secure dating evidence.

The extended sondage over Structure Twenty – one of Ten’s predecessors – is showing more of what appears to be the levelling layer placed over the former before work to construct the latter began. That said, it may actually be part of the deliberate infill of Structure Twenty.

Jo and Travis’ work in the area continues.

Now we jump across to Structure Five and another of its substantial post-holes. Last week, Ralph removed the primary floor surface around the north-western post-hole – one of six that once held substantial timber posts in the building’s original rectangular section.

This revealed that the cut used for the 0.55-metre-diameter post was much larger – requiring it to be packed into position. Why cut such a large hole to hold a much-smaller post.

Today, Andy and Claire revealed more of the south-eastern post-hole and, you guessed it, the cut was also much larger.

This adds to the evidence that the builders of Structure Five were re-using an earlier, much-larger post-hole? And if so, why? Do the post-holes relate to an earlier, substantial, and perhaps timber, building? A wooden structure that was burned to the ground prior to the construction of Structure Five?

Elsewhere in Five, supervisor Paul lifted a stone today to find burnt fibrous material that may be peat or turf.

We know there was a conflagration in the building’s original section at the end of its life, which led to its decommissioning. After this the north-eastern extension remained in use.

Previously, a deposit that might relate to a collapsed turf roof was found in Structure Five. Whether today’s discovery relates to the same remains to be seen.

Yesterday, we showed the beautiful replica axe sent to Mark as a gift. Today, the Ness fought back.

Still working in Structure Thirty-Four, Ray was excavating another of the enigmatic, three-sided stone boxes inside. Passing by at the start of my afternoon site patrol, I asked him whether he’d uncovered anything special.

“Not today,” was the response.

Five minutes later, from the depths of Trench J, I saw Ray gesticulating wildly and pointing. Heading over, it wasn’t long before it was clear he’d done it again.

His find today, although beautiful, is a little puzzling. There’s no doubt that it’s a worked stone tool, fashioned from an apparently naturally banded rock. What it was, though is not so clear. It’s too thin to be an axe, macehead or pillowstone.

We’ll revisit tomorrow after it gets a good wash.

Time now for the latest in Structure Twenty-Seven, where the entrance arrangement has been clarified (a bit).

As suspected the decorated orthostat does represent one side of the building’s entrance. Unfortunately, its also clear that its contemporaries have not survived.

The orthostat doesn’t extend to outer, northern wall of the building, raising the possibility that its shaped outer end might represent slots for door bars.

Inside Twenty-Seven, we now have more grooves in the floor that either represent stone divisions or organic partitions have emerged while the north-western corner is still producing copious quantities of animal bone.

Generally, bone preservation at the Ness is very poor, however the huge quantity of skeletal material coming in from Trench T is in remarkable condition, making it invaluable diagnostic material. Among the well-preserved animal bone that flooded into the finds hut today was another boar tusk.

Meanwhile, Cristina continued work on Structure Twenty-Seven’s hearth today, which has now seen one quadrant completely excavated. This has not only revealed a stone base but that the material within is remarkable shallow.

Was Twenty-Seven’s hearth only used for a very short period or time? Or was it carefully, and meticulously, emptied regularly?

I think that’ll do us for today. Now it’s on to sorting the photos. See you tomorrow, which, going by the forecast, looks like it will be considerably calmer.