The Ness of Brodgar Project

Structures Twenty-One and Twenty-Nine

Monday, June 21, 2021

Structures Twenty-One and Twenty-Nine in relation to the other piered buildings in Trench P.
Structures Twenty-One and Twenty-Nine in relation to the other piered buildings in Trench P.

Structure Twenty-One

The excavated section of Structure Twenty-One, adjacent to Structure One (top).
The excavated section of Structure Twenty-One, adjacent to Structure One (top).
Structure Twenty-One.
Schematic showing the suspected layout of Structure Twenty-One.

To the west of Structure One, and protruding from the side of Trench P, is Structure Twenty-One’s northern wall.

Only the eastern end of the building, which was built c3200BC, but (we think) slightly later than Structure One, is visible although geophysical survey suggests it continues around 15 metres west of the trench edge.

A faint geophysical anomaly, 11 metres to the south, may represent the southern wall. If this is the case it suggests the building was around the same size as Structure Twelve and had similar internal features.

After Twenty-One went out of use, its eastern end wall was completely removed, possibly as a source of building stone.

Structure Twenty-One's northern wall. (Scott Pike)
Structure Twenty-One (top right) and Twenty-Nine (top left) are visible in this drone shot of Structure One. (Scott Pike)
The surviving remnants of Structure One's northern wall and pier. this afternoon. (Sigurd Towrie)
2014: Andy and Lesley-Ann expose more of the pier in Structure Twenty-One. (ORCA)

Structure Twenty-Nine

Structure Twenty-Nine's position in relation to the northern end of Structure Twelve (phase one).
Structure Twenty-Nine’s position in relation to the northern end of Structure Twelve (phase one).

All that is visible of this building is a single curved wall section jutting from the trench section to the south of Structure One and a section in the trench edge north-west of Structure Twelve.

Its relationship to the central paved area and standing stone suggests it was contemporary with Structures One, Eight, Twelve and Twenty-One and dates to around 3100BC.

A continuation of the central paved area was exposed between Structure Twelve and Twenty-Nine in 2023. Both buildings respected the paving, telling us they were contemporary – which makes Structure Twelve earlier than we had originally thought.

The central paved area, with the curved wall section of Structure Twenty-Nine emerging from the trench edge. (Sigurd Towrie)
Emma in the central paved area, beside the exposed section of Structure Twenty-Nine. (Sigurd Towrie)
Chris Marshall at work outside Structure Twelve. With the wall of Structure Twenty-Nine visible in the trench section to the right. (Sigurd Towrie)
The north-eastern end of Structure Twenty-Nine, with Emma excavating between it and Structure One. (Sigurd Towrie)

Originally, we thought that a second wall section, protruding from the trench edge to the west of Structure Twelve, might also belong to Twenty-Nine.

In 2021, after this section was cleaned up it was clear that its construction was inferior and more akin to the later ephemeral buildings, such as Structure Twenty-Six, to the north-east, which are contemporary with the rebuild of Structure Ten.

Structure Twenty-Nine wall section protruding from the trench section between Structures One and Twelve. (Scott Pike)
2022: Structure Twenty-Nine wall section protruding from the trench section between Structures One and Twelve. (📷 Scott Pike)

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