Category: Excavation

Monday, July 20, 2020

Human arm bone added to list of Structure Ten buttress deposits

Diary – Monday, July 20, 2020Day Eleven2011: Ray reveals the first hints of the third hearth in Structure Eight. (📷 ORCA)There’s nothing like sifting through our archives to see just… Read more

Excavation

Saturday, July 18, 2020

Awe and wonder in an age of reason – taking visitors to the Ness of Brodgar excavations

By Peter Yeoman The greatest thing about a visit to the Ness is that it peoples the landscape of deep time, in a way that other prehistoric sites on Orkney… Read more

Excavation

Friday, July 17, 2020

Threshold disappointment and a new rock art design revealed

Diary – Friday, July 17, 2020 Day Ten It was day two on this day in 2012 and although the uncovering process had gone remarkably quickly, site… Read more

Structure Eight 'domino' stone. (Sigurd Towrie)

Excavation

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Decorated ‘dotted’ stone was a first for the Ness

Diary – Thursday, July 16, 2020 Day Nine There was a new look to the site when the excavation team turned up on Monday, July 16, 2012.… Read more

Excavation

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

A spectacular incised slab – the first of many in 2019

Diary – Wednesday, July 15, 2020 Day Eight As mentioned yesterday, we’re now reaching the point where the pre-2015, six-week excavations on site start getting under way. … Read more

Excavation

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

A remarkable pottery sherd…

Diary – Tuesday, July 14, 2020Day Seven2014: The last of the stones holding down the protective covers are removed from Structure Twelve. (📷 ORCA)Six years ago today, the six-week 2014… Read more

Excavation

Monday, July 13, 2020

Hints there’s something beyond Structure Twelve’s entrance…

Diary – Monday, July 13, 2020Day SixColin reveal a new pecked design in the east entrance to Structure Twelve. (📷 ORCA)We’re back for week two and looking out the window… Read more

Excavation

Monday, July 13, 2020

The art of archaeological planning

Cecily planning Structure Seven way back in 2007. (📷 ORCA)Alice planning in the Central Midden Area. (📷 ORCA)Visit the Ness site at any time during an excavation season and you… Read more

Excavation

Friday, July 10, 2020

Seaweed, a standing stone and the ‘corner of loveliness’ revealed

Dig Diary – Friday, July 10, 2020 Day Five Here we are at the end of what would have been the first week of the 2020 excavation… Read more

2015: The floor deposits in Structure Fourteen are brought back to life with a careful clean. (ORCA)

Excavation

Thursday, July 9, 2020

Diary – Thursday, July 9, 2020

Day Four Sorry folks but once again I start this diary with the weather. But in 2015 it was foul, meaning much of Thursday, July 9, 2015, was taken up… Read more

Excavation

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Diary – Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Day Three This day, five years ago, will long be remembered as a historical milestone in the history of the Ness of Brodgar excavation. It wasn’t because of any astonishing… Read more

Jim's 3D reconstruction of Structure Twenty-Six.

Excavation

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Diary – Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Day Two You may be wondering why our first diary of 2020 concentrated only on excavation from 2015 onwards. The reason is that before 2015 our fieldwork seasons lasted only… Read more

2018: Investigating Structure Twenty-Six. (📷 Sigurd Towrie)

Excavation

Monday, July 6, 2020

Diary – Monday, July 6, 2020

Day One And we’re off. Believe me it’s really strange to be sitting down to write a Ness “dig” diary while not caked in mud and soaking wet! Today we… Read more