Dig Diary Extra – A timber structure at the Ness site?

One of the two post-hole arcs in Trench X. (Emily O’Farrell)

Before another day of incessant rain forced us to call a halt to proceedings, work had started on extending Trench T to expose more of the enigmatic Structure Twenty-Seven.

The second trench extension on the cards this season is planned for Trench X, where the discovery of a series of post-holes in 2017 hinted at the possibility we might have a timber structure on site.

The two rows of post-holes exposed so far follow a parallel, circular path and between them are the remains of a circular stone built wall – belonging to a separate building that stood before or after the suspected timber construction.

The stone building section outlined in red, with the outer arc of post-holes in yellow.

We hope the Trench X extension will reveal more of the post-hole sequence and, most importantly, provide material that will allow us to date the construction of the structure and see how it relates to the stone building that once stood on the same site.

Watch this space for details…

(P.S. After days of foul weather, the sun is shining in Orkney as I write this!)