Dig Diary – Structure Ten produces the first decorated stone of the season
Day Four
Thursday, June 27, 2024
Slowly but surely the archaeological work got under way today as diggers returned to the structures and checked out the lay of the land. Supervisors checked records, sampling plans, survey points and the other technical elements vital to the thorough excavation of the Neolithic buildings.
Over in Structure One, Andy’s team moved inside the building, freshening the floor surface and removing the dust and debris from the stones and generally getting ready for the work ahead.
In Trench J, Michael and Andre were focused on the Structure Five’s large rectangular hearth, preparing for a visit by our archaeomagnetic specialist Cathy Batt next week. This involved cleaning it and exposing the upper layers of a section to expose the rich, red deposits which are best suited to archaeomagnetic dating.
Archaeomag uses known alterations in the earth’s magnetic field, over time, compared with the fixed orientation in burnt samples to estimate dates. This, in conjunction with radiocarbon dates, provides indications of the length of use of the hearths – and hence helps date the buildings themselves.
Structure Ten produced the first decorated stone of the season, a large slab – probably a fallen orthostat – with faint incised decoration on one side.
Fortunately, our Neolithic art specialist, Dr Antonia Thomas, from the UHI Archaeology Institute, was on site today and added it to our growing inventory of Neolithic decorated stone.
Elsewhere in Ten, Travis and Allyson were measuring out an extension to the sondage that revealed Structure Twenty – one of Ten’s predecessors.
An extra metre is being added to the south-western end of the deep trench to expose more of the structure and, hopefully, allow the diggers to reach its floor level – the goal being to secure dating material.
Outside Ten, Jackson continued work on a deposit of cattle bone that is part of the decommissioning deposit placed around the building around 2400BC. Work in this area started last year as part of the SmartFauna project.
SmartFauna saw the animal bone placed around Structure Ten, following its decommissioning feast, recorded in great detail using laser scanning, rectified photography and 3D recording. This allowed for a very detailed analysis and interpretation of the massive bone deposit.
The same techniques were used in 2023 on a bone deposit lying between Structures Ten and Twenty-Six and the results compared to other faunal remains found along the former’s paved outer passageway.
The Structure Eight squad were back in Structure Thirty-Four today – completing the excavation of the box-like features at its south-western side.
Work also began in another, larger and more substantial stone “box”, adjacent to these, and revealed pottery that appears (at the moment at least) to be associated with a deposit of small bones nearby.
Excavation of this area continues, so hopefully we’ll have more to tell you next week.
Regular readers might be wondering why Structures Twelve and Trench T have been absent from the dig diaries so far. The reason is that work will resume in these when supervisors, Jim Rylatt and Cristina return soon.
A welcome sight today was Roy Towers – one of our ceramics specialists. For many years Roy delivered our site tours and we’re delighted to announce that he’s coming back!
If you’ve visiting the Ness before, chances are it was Roy who introduced you to the intricacies of the site. And from next week, Roy will be your guide on the 11am Thursday and Friday tours.
Tomorrow’s weather forecast is looking a bit grim with strong winds and rain apparently on the horizon. But we’re an optimistic bunch and at present are hoping to be open to the public as normal.
But keep an eye on the website for updates.
