Link: Excavating Orkney and Shetland from Current Archaeology archives
A selection of Orkney excavation highlights from the archives of Current Archaeology magazine.
Click to read.… Read more
From 2004, 20 years of excavation on the Ness of Brodgar revealed a huge complex of monumental Neolithic buildings from the centuries around 3000BC.
Without parallel in Atlantic Europe, the site’s three hectares are filled with huge stone structures containing spectacular finds.
These made the Ness one of the most important archaeological sites in the world today, changing our understanding of Neolithic Orkney and shining a new light on the prehistory of northern Europe.
Fieldwork ended in 2024 and the focus is now on the post-excavation analysis of the data gathered. This will lead to full publication with much more available online.
In addition, we will continue working with local communities and schools to develop educational and other resources.
The project is mainly funded through the generosity of the public through our two supporting charities, the Ness of Brodgar Trust and the American Friends.
Crantit chambered cairn
In April 1998, the discovery of a prehistoric chambered tomb on the outskirts of Kirkwall caused great excitement in archaeological circles.
The Crantit chamber had lain undisturbed for millennia so hopes were high that it would contain the untouched remains of early Orcadians. Read more
The walls of Brodgar – updated again
During the 2022 excavation season another section of the northern boundary wall, or “Great Wall of Brodgar”, was exposed.
The page focusing on the two walls that flanked the Ness… Read more
The Staneyhill stone (and round about)
A solitary megalith towers over a Neolithic quarry about 350 metres to the south-east of the Staneyhill horned cairn. Read more
Do post-holes represent a timber building beneath Structure Five?
We mentioned it briefly during last summer’s dig diary, but we’ve got another update to Structure Five’s page today, covering the possibility that there may be an earlier, timber building… Read more
The real treasures of an archaeological excavation
A new blog post from PhD candidate Julia Becher, who is analysing lipids on pottery sherds from the Ness of Brodgar as part of the international ChemArch project. Read more
Wednesday wildlife – otter hunting in the snow
Site director Nick Card braved the gales and snow showers on Sunday and captured these pictures of an aquatic neighbour hunting in the loch.… Read more
‘Art of Neolithic Orkney’ podcast
The ‘Brodgar Stone’ found on the Ness in February 1925. (Picture courtesy of Orkney Library Photographic Archive)We have another History Hit podcast for you today, this time a splendid introduction… Read more
Link: ‘Orkney – Centre of the Stone Age’ podcast
A new podcast from History Hit, looking at Orkney's Neolithic remains, including Maeshowe, the Ring of Brodgar, Skara Brae and a section on the Ness of Brodgar, featuring Nick Card and Roy Towers. Read more
Staneyhill long horned cairn
Across the waters of the Harray loch, just over two miles north-east of the Ness of Brodgar complex, is one of the few known Orcadian examples of a Neolithic long horned cairn. Read more
The central paved area and standing stone
An update to our excavation background section this week, dealing with the “central paved area” and standing stone between Structures One, Eight, Twelve and Twenty-Nine.
Click here to read.… Read more
2022’s top ten: rethinking Structure Eight’s original entrance
Unlike other Ness buildings, Structure Eight stands out as having a single entrance.
Measuring over 18 metres long by 9.5 metres wide, Structure Eight is the largest of the piered… Read more
Link: The Ness of Brodgar – marking 20 years of Neolithic discoveries
In the summer of 2022, Current Archaeology‘s Carly Hilts visited the excavation to see progress on the site and hear the latest thinking on the Neolithic complex.
Her subsequent article,… Read more
2022’s top ten: paved area between Structures Seventeen and Eighteen
Structures Seventeen and Eighteen are two earlier buildings (c3200BC) that pre-date, and lie beneath, Structure Eight (c3100BC).
A focus of the 2022 excavation season was to reveal more of the… Read more
2022’s top ten: another ‘butterfly’ stone
The “butterfly” motif has been found incised into numerous stones and surfaces across the site, and this year was no exception.
The stone slab pictured above had been incorporated into… Read more
2022’s top ten: two more thumb-pots
We have a growing collection of tiny “thumb pots” at the Ness, and another two were found this summer within two days of each other.
The first came from the… Read more
