Dig Diary – more evidence of a decommissioning feast for Structure Twenty-Seven?

Day Twenty-Nine
Wednesday, July 31, 2024

And we’re back, ready and raring to go…

But unfortunately, things were so busy across the site today, we’re going to have to serve you up an abridged diary as time just got away from us.

Outside Structure Twenty-Seven’s north-western corner the animal bone is still coming up in copious quantities. Excavating and meticulously recording the position of each bone were Tom and Sarah.

Such is the quantity of well-preserved animal bone from that area that Professor Ingrid Mainland, from the UHI Archaeology Institute, paid a visit today to view the remains.

A zooarchaeologist, Ingrid confirmed that the huge number of bone comes from a mixture of animals, but that some of the cattle bone emerging is among the biggest found on site to date.

The volume of animal bone emerging from the paved area outside Twenty-Seven is strongly suggesting we might be looking at a decommissioning feast akin to the one that marked the demise of Structure Ten.

Ingrid also made an interesting discovery. You’ll recall that early last week what was suspected to be a canine bone was found among the upper layers of animal bone.

Examining it today she confirmed that it’s not canine but belonged to an otter!

Inside, work continued in and around the hearth. As we mentioned yesterday, the quantity of ash within is surprisingly small – less than an inch deep!

But this ash lies on top of a layer of stone and, given the depth the hearthstones have been sunk into the floor, it may be that we have earlier layers underneath the stone “base”.

If that proves not to be the case, it may be that we’ve got another, earlier, hearth lying beneath. Time will tell.

At the southern end of the interior, Maria has been cleaning the area around the prone orthostat, revealing more of the probable furniture feature that was revealed last year.

It seems to have been as well-built as Structure Twenty-Seven itself and appears to have a slot at the centre that may have held an orthostat.

Are we looking an a “dresser” feature, akin to those in Skara Brae, or something else. We’ll keep you posted as excavation continues.

Similar features are emerging against the south-eastern prone orthostats.

And while we’re on the subject of Structure Twenty-Seven’s “skirting boards”, excavation around the end of the north-western orthostat is confirming what we’ve long suspected – that these stone slabs were huge and sunk a considerable depth into the floor.

The exposed section of the north-western example is currently 50cm wide and still going down!

At opposite end of the site, supervisor Paul has continued investigating the evidence of an extensive fire in Structure Five towards the end of the original section’s life.

Among the area of extensive burning revealed today was a huge deposit of processed clay – presumably brought into the building before the fire to produce pottery. Nearby, Lindsay revealed a fragment of antler. A prized find at the Ness!

I’ll have to leave it that tonight. Food and a long, hot shower beckon.

Don’t forget that our second open day of the season takes place this Sunday – the last Ness open day ever! Head to the dig site and the Stenness school from 10am until 4pm.

We’ll be back tomorrow.