| 2010 |
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OIC cash for archaeological projects — Thirteen projects look set to receive money from Orkney Islands Council’s fund for archaeological investigations in 2010.
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Delving into the history of 'things' — Orkney and Shetland are to be research sites for a major project looking at the way the Viking communities governed themselves and strengthened their groups. |
| 2009 |
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Eyebrows link Westray figurine with burial chamber - As reported on Orkneyjar.com at the time, the "eyes" of the Noltland figurine bear a marked resemblance to the “eyebrow motif” pecked carvings found in the southernmost chambered cairn on the Holm of Papa Westray. |
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Archaeologists return to site of Wyre Neolithic settlement - a team of archaeologists is back on Wyre, returning to the site of a Neolithic settlement site on the island. |
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The ‘cathedral’ at the heart of Neolithic Orkney - “It has to be a religious building, a temple, the cathedral of its period.”
The words of Nick Card, describing this summer's work on a massive Neolithic structure on the Ness of Brodgar. |
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Westray Stone Age carving is a first for Scotland - What has been hailed as Scotland's earliest representation of a human has been unearthed at the Links of Noltland, in Westray. |
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The unfolding story of the Brough of Deerness - “What we’ve got here is one of the few places in the world where you can walk through the remains of a Viking Age village . . .” The words of Dr James Barrett, as the second year of excavations on the Brough of Deerness drew to a close this week. |
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The Ness of Brodgar 2009 - This season's work, on the Neolithic settlement in Stenness, is now under way. |
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The Cantick mound that turned square — The excavations on Cantick, South Walls, concluded last week following the investigation of a Bronze Age burial mound. |
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Unravelling centuries of Iron Age activity - work continues on an Iron Age site in South Ronaldsay — once again attempting to unravel a complex series of Iron Age buildings clustered around the site of a massive broch-like building. |
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Archaeologists focus on birsay mound - A badly deteriorating settlement mound on the south side of Marwick Bay, in Birsay, has been under investigation by a team of archaeologists from Oxford University. Neolithic chambered tomb has been unearthed on the outskirts of Kirkwall. |
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Plough uncovers suspected chambered tomb - What appears to be a Neolithic chambered tomb has been unearthed on the outskirts of Kirkwall. |
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Giving the archaeology buffs a chance to get their hands dirty - A series of training courses will begin in Orkney next month, aimed at tempting armchair archaeology buffs out of doors and into the field. |
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When art meets archaeology - An Orkney College research assistant is set to combine art and archaeology, after receiving a grant to help her complete a study of two of the county’s most intriguing subjects. |
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New world heritage co-ordinator appointed |
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Ness of Brodgar excavation takes second place in global archaeology awards - The 2008 excavations at the Ness of Brodgar have been named runner-up in the prestigious Andante Travel Archaeology Awards. |
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Brodgar ring to feature on new bank note - An image of the Ring of Brodgar will appear on Scottish bank notes later this year. |
| 2008 |
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Management plan launched - The new management plan for Orkney’s World Heritage Site was launch in Stromness last week. |
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Westray site is latest to produce Neolithic art - a large piece of decorated stone has been discovered at one of Orkney’s most threatened sites — the Links of Noltland prehistoric settlement, in Westray. |
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Rumours of sunken structures prompt survey of Bay of Firth -
Stories about mysterious underwater structures in the Bay of Firth have been circulating for a number of years.
But now, a sonar survey of the area hopes to answer, once and for all,what lies on the sea bed. |
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Wyre Neolithic Excavation - online blog now available. |
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Brodgar assumptions questioned at end of Ness dig - With the end of excavations on the Ness of Brodgar, site director Nick Card feels its time for a major rethink about the landscape of Orkney’s Neolithic Heartland. |
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Eday carved stone is "beautiful" find - An excavation in Eday uncovers an incised Neolithic stone. |
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Experts stunned by scale of Brodgar structure - “What we’ve got here is probably one of the largest, if not the largest, stone-built Neolithic non-funerary structures in Britain.” |
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Excavators return to Skaill farmstead - One week into this year’s excavation of a site at the Bay of Skaill has seen archaeologists continue to reveal a well-preserved example of a Norse house. |
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Brodgar excavation ends, but the secrets of the ring begin to shine through - a summary of this summer's excavation at the Ring o' Brodgar. |
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New excavation at Neolithic mystery site -
Archaeologists are returning to a mysterious "decorated" Neolithic structure discovered last year at the Links of Noltland in Westray. |
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Excavation team return to South Ronaldsay to tackle archaeological jigsaw puzzle - A high-status Iron Age site in South Ronaldsay has been under excavation again this summer.
The three-week excavation at the Cairns, led by Orkney College lecturer Martin Carruthers, focused, this year, on extending previous trenches in order to get a better understanding of the site. |
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Long-awaited dig begins unravelling the secrets
of the Brough of Deerness - After decades — if not centuries — of speculation, an archaeological excavation on the Brough of Deerness is beginning to shed some much-needed light on the site. |
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Chambered cairn dig sheds new light on the history of Orkney's voles - During the recent ORCA excavations of the mound known as Outer Green Hill in South Walls, among the remains of sheep, cattle, red deer, bird and fish bones recovered were the teeth and bones of ancient Orkney voles. |
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South Walls mound is a chambered cairn - Excavation work on a large mound in South Walls has confirmed, contrary to a long-held assumption, that it is not the remains of a broch - instead, it appears to be a Neolithic chambered cairn. |
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Four-week excavation at the Ring of Brodgar -
First dig in 35 years hopes to uncover the secrets of
Orkney's iconic stone circle. The Ring of Brodgar is to be the subject of a major archaeological excavation this summer - the first in 35 years. |
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Official launch for ORCA - A new chapter for archaeology in the county began last week, with the official launch of the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA). |
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Twilight tours offered at Maeshowe - Historic Scotland is introducing special twilight tours at Maeshowe. |
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Consultation begins on new World Heritage Site management plan -
The Heart of Neolithic Orkney Management Plan 2008-13 consultation draft and its accompanying environmental report are due to be published on Thursday, May 8. |
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Sea level results lead to radical rethink over World Heritage Site landscape - A radically different picture of the prehistoric landscape around Orkney’s World Heritage Site is beginning to emerge – a landscape which perhaps didn’t feature the Stenness and Harray lochs. |
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Salt Knowe - Orkney's Silbury Hill? - A combination of modern research and antiquarian “excavation” looks like confirming that a massive mound to the west of the Ring of Brodgar was not a chambered cairn. |
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New contender for Orkney's oldest settlement site - There’s a new contender for Orkney’s earliest “settlement”, following a two week investigation in Stronsay. |
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Neolithic carved stone found on beach - An ornately-carved stone, thought to date from the Neolithic period, was found on a South Ronaldsay beach last week. |
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Westray Stone returns - An ornately-carved prehistoric stone has been returned to Westray, after more than 25 years in the Orkney Museum. |
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Orkney public thanked for World Heritage Site enthusiasm - Orkney residents have been thanked for their help and enthusiasm in developing the new world heritage site management plan. |
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Rangers offer guided walks around Brodgar - Guided tours lead by Historic Scotland's expert guides are back by popular demand. |
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Nine archaeological projects supported by OIC - A study to help determine the exact age of the Ring of Brodgar is one of nine archaeological projects to receive Orkney Islands Council funding this year. |
