Focus on finds: pumice
Pumice, a by-product of volcanic eruptions, played a significant role in Neolithic life, often used for its abrasive qualities. Read more
Category: Artefacts
Dig director Nick on Neolithic carved stone balls
With replicas of the carved stone bone from Structure Ten going on sale online today, Ness of Brodgar excavation director Nick Card gives some background to these enigmatic objects.… Read more
Ness carved stone ball in 3D
A 3d photogrammetry model, by Hugo Anderson-Whymark, of the carved stone ball found at the Ness of Brodgar excavation site, by Molly Bond, on August 7, 2013.… Read more
Evidence of woven textiles confirmed at the Ness
We can confirm today that we have evidence of a woven Neolithic textile at the Ness of Brodgar – only the second example found in Scotland.
We don’t physically have… Read more
Debitage confirms pitchstone knapping in Structure Eight
With Travis, it is not enough to find just one piece of pitchstone – within hours of finding the rather nice blade yesterday, he appeared clutching a finds bag from… Read more
Another pitchstone fragment from the Ness
Another flake of Arran pitchstone has turned up during the analysis of soil samples from Structure Eight.
Pitchstone is a volcanic glass, similar to obsidian, and its nearest source is… Read more
Microliths add to evidence of Mesolithic activity on the Ness
The tiny crescent microlith recovered at the Ness. (Hugo Anderson-Whymark)Three tiny flint tools are the latest evidence of Mesolithic activity on the Ness of Brodgar peninsula.Previous finds of Mesolithic tools… Read more
More images of today’s incised stone
Four more photographs of the incised stone found in the cell outside Structure Twelve’s eastern entrance today.
Click on any image for a larger version.
… Read more
Incised flagstone – more pictures
The light this morning was slightly better than yesterday, so here’s a few more pictures of easily reached sections of the incised flagstone found in the cell outside Structure Twelve’s… Read more
Dig Diary Extra – another view of Structure Twelve entrance cell incised stone
Another difficult stone to photograph – not only because of the light this afternoon but its sheer size. But hopefully this will give an idea of the number of incision… Read more
Incised stone from Structure Twelve’s eastern entrance
Working around the entrance to Structure Twelve there is a key rule…
… all stone removed from the area must be washed and checked for incised marks. And it’s a… Read more
Dig Diary Extra – closer views of Structure Seventeen incised stone
A few photographs of sections of the incised stone recovered from Structure Seventeen on July 25.
The slab features four bands of decoration, but areas appear to have been worn away… Read more
Macehead fragment – post-conservation
Not all finds from the Ness are in immaculate condition, as these newly received pictures of a macehead fragment, post-conservation, show.
Compare this badly damaged artefact with… Read more
Another goodie from Trench X
We mentioned yesterday that in the closing minutes of the day, an axehead/macehead blank was found in the same area as the spectacular macehead earlier in the day.
Here is… Read more
A taste of things to come…
It’s been a frantically busy day on site today – but also an incredibly exciting one.
We’re busily putting together today’s dig diary and gathering hundreds of photographs from all… Read more
