Archive for August, 2011

Day Twenty-Seven That’s all folks…until next year Well, that is the end of the dig at the Ness of Brodgar for another 10.5 months. With good luck, and the generosity…

Day Twenty-Six A day of sunshine and showers, which accurately reflects the mood of the team today. Lots of interesting work remains to be done, although most of it involves…

Day Twenty-Five Today was open day on the Ness, and people came from far and wide to see the amazing structures and artefacts from 5,000 years ago. Truly, the folk…

Day Twenty-Four Slowly but surely, excavation at the Ness is declining in pace and in scope. Not through any lack of energy or commitment on the part of the staff…

Day Twenty-Three A momentous day We have dredged the bottom of our bucket of superlatives in order to describe what has been happening on the Ness in days past, and…

Day Twenty-Two Another hot day on the Ness, and an even hotter one in the trenches. Structure Fourteen turned out to be particularly sizzling today.  A thin deposit of clay…

Day Twenty-One It is the beginning of week five – which is an alarming thought. Only this week and next to crack on with uncovering as many of the secrets…

Day Twenty A new ‘Comet Stone’ Here is a question for all you blog readers out there in the archaeo-sphere. Was Halley’s Comet visible in the skies above Orkney in…

Day Nineteen The infernal Orkney wind caused problems on the Ness today, drying the surface of soil and midden and sending it flying over previously cleaned sections. Frankly, it made…

Day Eighteen STOP PRESS: Mike has finally found wall lines while investigating the area of the presumed, and long anticipated, entrance to Structure Ten! However, they are not what we…

Day Seventeen And the rains have cleared – hoorah! It’s not quite a balmy and sultry day, but at least it’s mainly dry and waterproofs have been replaced by just…

Day Sixteen Experiencing an Orcadian summer… Think, ‘March of the Penguins’. On a gale-battered, rain-swept, foam swept Ness of Brodgar this morning, 40 or so diggers huddled together in a…

Day Fifteen The howls of anguish from Structure Eight could be heard all over the site! After toiling through the detailed recording, and removal, of over 370 flagstone roof tiles,…

Day Fourteen Eureka! There is nothing more satisfying than solving a problem. This morning, Hugo was standing on the edge of Structure Fourteen, contemplating the complexities of the building which…

Day Thirteen It was fascinating to watch the dynamic of the site today. Half-way through week three and everything is flowing like a well-oiled machine. Everyone knows exactly what to…