Cupmarks galore around Structure Twelve entrance
Dig Diary – Wednesday, August 5, 2020
Day Twenty-Three
Friday, August 5, 2011, was another day of roof tiles in Structure Eight.
After recovering over 370 examples in the building,… Read more
Category: Excavation
A day of site-wide revelations…
Dig Diary – Tuesday, August 4, 2020
Day Twenty-Two
Wednesday, August 4, 2011, was a day of revelations in Trench P.
Working in Structure Fourteen it became clear that the… Read more
A plethora of exquisite polished stone artefacts!
Dig Diary – Monday, August 3, 2020
Day Twenty-One
August 2011 began with a plethora of finds from Structure Eight.
Following the discovery of a “toolkit” a few days before,… Read more
‘The most incredible piece of Neolithic decoration found on site’
Seven years ago today was a day to remember. It was the day that the most incredible piece of Neolithic decoration found on site to date emerged from the interior of Structure Ten. Read more
The first suggestion of Iron Age remodelling of Trench T mound
Dig Diary – Thursday, July 30, 2020
Day Nineteen
July 30, 2012, saw some intense thinking about the site by site director Nick.
Building on the detailed stratigraphic by the… Read more
Astonished by the scale of the trench-spanning mega-drain
Dig Diary – Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Day Eighteen
We kick of proceedings today in Structure Eight, which has revealed much in the way of finds – including huge quartz… Read more
The ‘Brodgar Boy’ emerges … but what was it?
Dig Diary – Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Day Seventeen
On this day in 2011, the “Brodgar Boy” emerged from Structure Fourteen.
The small clay “figurine” was about only 30mm (1.18in)… Read more
More maceheads, axes and horned spiral decoration…
Diary – Monday, July 27, 2020Day Sixteen2011: The macehead and pierced bone in Structure Eight. (📷 ORCA)Structure Eight has a reputation for fine artefacts and it didn’t disappoint on July… Read more
Woodlands under the waves…
A talk by Dr Scott Timpany of the Archaeology Institute UHI on prehistoric woodlands preserved within intertidal peats around the coastline of Britain.
Here Scott… Read more
Behold the ‘Butterfly Stone’
Seven years ago today, what has become one of the most iconic finds from the Ness first saw the light of day. Read more
Axes, maceheads and ‘Great Wall’ revelations
Diary – Thursday, July 23, 2020
Day Fourteen
The second week of the 2012 season got under way with the discovery of a human tooth inside Structure… Read more
Rare bone pins, rarer wood and an enigmatic annexe from above
Diary – Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Day Thirteen
The first week of the 2011 excavation season ended on July 22, with the discovery of a… Read more
Coloured pottery, a Bronze Age arrowhead and an ‘eyebrow’ motif – a day of firsts for the Ness
Diary – Tuesday, July 21, 2020
Day Twelve
Colour was the theme on this day nine years ago.
Not only did we have another coloured stone… Read more
GIS – recording finds on a 3D site map
The position of everything found during excavation is recorded digitally in three dimensions. You will know that is what is happening when you see two people shouting numbers at each… Read more
