Ness of Brodgar award success recognised in Scottish Parliament
The Ness of Brodgar has been congratulated in the Scottish Parliament for its success in the 2024 Current Archaeology Awards.
The motion (detailed below) was tabled by Orkney MSP Liam McArthur and is the fourth time the project has been acknowledged at Holyrood. The first was in 2011, when the excavation also won the Current Archaeology Research Project of the Year.
Motion S6M-12361 – Liam McArthur: Orkney Success at the Current Archaeology Awards.
That the Parliament congratulates all the archaeologists involved at the Ness of Brodgar, which has been awarded Research Project of the Year for a second time at the Current Archaeology Live! Conference 2024; understands that the Ness of Brodgar site is a complex of Neolithic structures on the Orkney Mainland, described as “without parallel in Atlantic Europe”; considers that the excavation of this 5,000-year-old site, which has been ongoing since 2004, has proceeded according to the careful application of long-term principles; commends the meticulous work that has been done over two decades to excavate the site and increase knowledge and understanding of Neolithic Europe; notes that among the finds at the site are over 1,000 decorated stone artefacts and evidence of elaborate adornments like coloured walls and tiling, which, together with the scale of the complex, creates a picture of an elaborate and vibrant culture in Neolithic Orkney; congratulates Nick Card, the Project Director at the Ness, who was awarded Archaeologist of the Year; understands that his leadership has guided the excavation of the site since 2004; recognises that the Ness is part of the “Heart of Neolithic Orkney”, which is one of Scotland’s six UNESCO World Heritage sites;”
Supported by: Martin Whitfield, Annabelle Ewing.
The motion also congratulated the archaeologists involved in the Knowe of Swandro excavations, in Rousay, whose receipt of Rescue Project of the Year made the Current Archaeology Awards a triple Orkney success.
