Analysis suggests two young men left fingerprints on Ness pottery fragment
In April we shared the exciting news that the fingerprint of a Neolithic potter was found on a ceramic sherd recovered from Trench X.
We can now tell you that… Read more
Category: Ceramics
Potter’s fingerprint discovered on 5,000-year-old sherd
The Neolithic potter’s fingerprint on a sherd of pottery recovered at the Ness of Brodgar. (📷 Jan Blatchford)In Orkney, around 5,000 years ago, a Neolithic potter sat down and began… Read more
Evidence of fine ceramics at the Ness?
By Roy Towers
Many of you will be familiar with the work of Cecily Webster, our eagle-eyed flotation expert, and her assistant, Travis.
Their task is to take the buckets… Read more
Textile evidence from the Ness among Scotland’s ‘most groundbreaking archaeological discoveries’ of 2020
Evidence of a woven Neolithic textile found during post-excavation work at the Ness has been named one of Scotland’s “most groundbreaking discoveries of 2020”.
The Covid pandemic has had… Read more
Scalloped-rim pots from Trench T – an early Christmas present at Ness HQ
By Roy Towers
It’s nearly Christmas and many of us will be looking forward to exciting and enigmatic parcels of presents to open. At Ness HQ we have unwrapped an… Read more
Introducing ceramics 9 – the bridge and the Bronze Age
The last part of our series is rooted in ceramics research but leads down a twisting, and surprising path. We travel from the Bronze Age to Victorian times, meeting along the way an archaeological villain, a naval tragedy, a world-beating iron bridge and a careful and underrated antiquarian. Read more
Introducing ceramics 8 – the dimpled-base experiments
Dimple bases are basal sherds, with finger-impressed dimples on the interior surface, found on Early and Middle Iron Age sites right around the Atlantic coast. Read more
Introducing ceramics 7 – colour
Coloured pot reconstructions. (📷 Cecily Webster)By Roy TowersOne of the joys of working with ceramics within the UHI Archaeological Institute in Orkney is the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues, both… Read more
Introducing ceramics 6 – sticking cordons
At Structure Twelve, sometime in the decades around c. 2300 cal BC, a potter lost his temper. Fed up with their cordons falling off, they adopted a radical solution. Read more
Introducing ceramics 5 – firing
So, our Neolithic Grooved Ware is formed, dried, decorated and ready for the all-important firing. What comes next? Read more
Introducing ceramics 4 – why the changes?
The hunt is on for clues, for any evidence of change through time. If you are a historian that can come in a dusty library as you leaf through old documents. Read more
Introducing ceramics 3 – how was Neolithic pottery made?
How was Neolithic pottery made, and in particular the Grooved Ware pottery from the Ness of Brodgar? Read more
Introducing ceramics 2: The excavation process
By Roy TowersA large sherd of decorated Grooved Ware pottery ready to be lifted. (ORCA)Pottery is remarkable stuff. It may be broken, kicked about, scuffed and generally disrespected, but if… Read more
Introducing ceramics: An abundance of pottery
By Roy TowersA coloured pottery sherd from Structure Twelve. (📷 ORCA)When you think about the Ness of Brodgar one word which comes to mind is “abundance”…There is an abundance of… Read more
Pot sherd – before and after…
Hot off the press! A before and after shot of a classic sherd of Neolithic Grooved Ware pot from Structure Twelve.
Picture one (above) shows the sherd emerging and picture… Read more
Another sherd of coloured pottery
While Roy Towers our ceramics expert was studying some pot from the later phases of Structure Twelve, he came across another rather fine example of coloured pottery.
This body sherd… Read more
