Tuesday, August 5, 2008
(Previous entries available here)

Johnny planning in Trench P.

Hello, my name is Ray.

I was on the Ness of Brodgar dig last year as a student and enjoyed it so much that I travelled from Ireland to volunteer for a couple of weeks this year. 

Today, most of the activity is in the new extension to trench “P” - not only is the team of “Irish” diggers, (which are in fact mainly Swedish) working at the strenuous task of taking off the last traces of top soil, but the mechanical digger has returned and is enlarging the extension. 

Traces of promising looking archaeology are beginning to appear in the parts of the extension where the topsoil has been removed and it shows every sign as being as exciting as the main trench “P”. 

Meanwhile, most of this year's students are in engaged planning of the main trench “P” so there may be a few sore backs by the end of the week! 

Trench “N” (over the “Great wall of Brodgar”) is getting quite deep now but still the archaeology goes on and on with many finds of bone and pottery. 

Remains of the later wall revealed in front of the Great Wall of Brodgar.

The other trench over the wall, trench “Q”, has served its purpose of “proving” the geophysics – which suggested that the wall continues across the site - and has, for the time, being been abandoned. 

Vivian Flett expertly removing the topsoil from Trench P extension.

Finally, in trench “J” Paul and his team are still painstakingly untangling the many layers of deposit and although progress is not as impressive as in trench “N” the complicated nature of the archaeology there demands a more time consuming technique is employed. 

If you are in the area drop in for a visit, there are guided tours at 11.00 and 15.00.

Massive walls being revealed in the extension to Trench P.