Ness spatulas in the research spotlight…

One of the 70 plus stone ‘spatulas’ recovered from the Ness to date (ORCA)

Gary Lloyd at work on site in 2018. (Jo Bourne)

The spatulate stone tools found at the Ness over the past few years are the subject of a new research project this summer.

Archaeology Institute UHI undergraduate Gary Lloyd has been awarded a Carnegie Vacation Scholarship to complete the research, which will focus on the spoon-like artefacts, of which over 70 have been found to date.

Gary explained: “The assemblage at the Ness of Brodgar has not been examined as a group and the more complex examples may be unique to the Ness.

“There are 70+ stone tools that have been labelled as belonging to the stone spatula category and I am going to spend eight weeks completing an assessment, recording and cataloguing them, and determine if they have been found elsewhere locally or in the region.”