100 years on: the discovery of the ‘Brodgar Stone’ at Ness complex site

Thursday, February 27, 2025 (11:59 AM)

The 'Brodgar Stone' found on the Ness in February 1925. (📷 Orkney Library and Archives) — The Brodgar Stone found on the Ness in February 1925. (📷 Tom Kent/Orkney Library and Archives)

One hundred years ago this week the “Brodgar Stone” saw the light of day again for the first time in millennia.

We now know that the beautifully decorated slab came from the northern end of Structure Eight but back in February 1925, when John Wishart was ploughing his field to the south-east of Brodgar Farm, he thought he had found prehistoric graves.

Back then, as now, the discovery of cists during agricultural work was not uncommon. So when it came to the “several cists” on his land, Wishart “did not worry much about the find. His chief idea was to clear his field of offending and awkward stones, so he promptly removed the lot.” [1]

The south-eastern tip of the Ness of Brodgar, c.1902, showing the location of Brodgar Farm.
(Map extract courtesy of the National Library of Scotland)

The discovery would have gone unrecorded had Wishart’s attention not been drawn to “curious marks” on one of the stones. Such was his curiosity that he took it home.

2018: The late Peter Leith with the camera his father used to photograph the Brodgar Stone in 1925. Peter is pictured with his son and daughter, John and Pat. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

In April 1925, news of the intriguing stone’s discovery reached James G. Marwick in Stromness. Marwick, a tailor by trade, was also a naturalist, a correspondent for The Orcadian newspaper, a town councillor and the future provost of Stromness.

Fortunately, he was also a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and immediately set out for Brodgar, where he viewed the slab, which measured:

“30 inches in length in front, tapering to 13 inches at the back, and is 3.5 inches in thickness.”

Regarding the decoration, Marwick declared:

“These marks consist of a series of sculpturings of a kind never before found in these islands, so far as I know. The markings consist of eight bands of lattice patterns between single marginal lines cut across the edge of the stone.”

He made rubbings of the incised decoration, but fortunately another Stenness farmer, Peter Leith from Appiehouse, had photographed the stone, along with two of the “pebbles” – hammerstones – found in the presumed cists.

Peter Leith's 1925 photograph of the 'Brodgar Stone' with the incised decoration highlighted in chalk. (📷 Peter Leith. In Marwick. Discovery of Stone Cists at Stenness, Orkney. 1926) — Peter Leith’s 1925 photograph of the ‘Brodgar Stone’ with the incised decoration highlighted in chalk and two of the recovered hammerstones on top. (📷 Peter Leith. In Marwick. *Discovery of Stone Cists at Stenness, Orkney*. 1926)

Although the “cists” had been removed by the time Marwick visited Brodgar, his second-hand description, based on Wishart’s recollections, was:

“There were four graves lying parallel to each other, in a line running north and south, with a smaller structure (it could hardly be called a grave) in addition, set at the northern end of the row. They were about 6 inches under the soil; each of the larger graves measured about 3 feet long, 2 feet broad, and 1 foot deep, while the smaller cist was about 6 inches square and as deep as the others.

“The graves were formed by stones set on edge, having the main axis lying east and west. Three of the large cists contained unburnt bones, which lay in the west end of each. In the other end of each grave was a rounded waterworn stone, the largest, measuring 5 inches by 4.5 inches, and the smallest, 4 inches by 3.5 inches.

“The fourth cist, at the south end of the row, was empty, as was also the smaller one. The bottom of the three cists first mentioned consisted of a flat stone, but there was no stone on the bottom of the fourth one, nor of the small cist.”

2010: The area around the north-eastern corner of Structure Eight dug into in February 1925. (📷 Sarah Cobain)

2019: The area around the north-eastern corner of Structure Eight dug into in February 1925. (📷 Scott Pike)

Marwick added that Peter Leith, and an unnamed companion, continued digging in the hole left by the removal of the “cists”, encountering another, containing only ash, five feet lower down. This highlights the depth of the archaeology we encountered on site during two decades of excavation.

He concluded his brief report to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland with the statement:

“The field containing these graves appears to contain much of archaeological interest…”

Little did he know.

The 'Brodgar Stone' and hammerstones at Brodgar Farm. (📷 Tom Kent/Orkney Library and Archives) — The ‘Brodgar Stone’ and hammerstones at Brodgar Farm. (📷 Tom Kent/Orkney Library and Archives)

Wishart’s decorated slab became known as the “Brodgar Stone” and was acquired by the National Museum in Edinburgh. Nothing like it was found in Orkney again – until the excavations began at the Ness of Brodgar.

We now have over 1,000 examples of incised or decorated stone and know that the Brodgar Stone came from the north-eastern corner of Structure Eight, but probably the underlying Structure Eighteen. As for the “cists”, these were a misinterpretation of some of the internal features in Structures Eight and Eighteen. Excavation in 2009 revealed evidence of the 1925 foray in a section of the building containing cist-like, orthostatic divisions.

But although it is the incised decoration on the Brodgar Stone that immediately draws the eye, examination by Dr Antonia Thomas has shown that the slab, along with many other examples on site, was worked more than once.

Overlying the bands of incised, geometrical designs she noted “crude but deliberate pecking: a cup-mark is ground into an incised band, a roughly-pecked pattern overlying a further incised band.” [2]

Dr Thomas suggested: “Perhaps the incised slab was re-visited, or even defaced with this pecking, or maybe it was always part of the design.” [2]

The 2009 decorated slab from Structure Eight. (📷 ORCA) — The 2009 decorated slab from Structure Eight in situ. (📷 ORCA)

Grace with the decorated stone (SF4698) after its recovery in August 2009. (📷 ORCA)

The decorated stone (SF4698). (📷 Ali Kerr)

In August 2009, a similar, though less elaborate, slab was recovered from Structure Eight, followed by spectacular example in August 2015, in the same area.

It too had deeply incised, banded decoration, consisting of a series of carved parallel lines, infilled with decoration including lattice and saltire-like patterns. One of the many intriguing elements of its discovery was that the slab may have been hidden, at least part of its life, within the wall of the structure.

Antonia and Georgie finally remove the 2015 stone after days of careful preparation. (📷 Ole Thoenies)

Closer view of the incised face of the 2015 stone slab. (📷 Ole Thoenies)

A close-up of some of the finely incised designs on the 2015 slab. (📷 Ole Thoenies)

In 2019, another stone with similar designs was recovered Structure Seventeen – one of the two buildings beneath Structure Eight. It featured four bands of decoration, but with areas where the incisions had been worn away – presumably when the stone was in situ.

2022 saw the discovery of what appeared to be an unfinished slab built into the outer wall of Structure Seventeen. This example featured a deeply incised “Brodgar Butterfly” design alongside other lightly inscribed decorations – including the typical bands, crosses and triangles. Work to deeply cut the motif to the right of the “butterfly” had followed the “sketch marks” but was not completed.