Thursday, July 17
(Previous entries available here)

Work continues on Trench A, under the supervision of Bob Nunn.

Water gathering in Trench A.

Hi everyone!

My name is Seamus and I am one of the undergraduates from Manchester University on the Brodgar dig.

It is really a great privilege to be a part of this great dig. The last couple of days have been quite strenuous and tiresome, but to see the results of our labor have made it all worthwhile.

The work on Trench A, under Bob’s supervision, has required a mass effort from the team.

The peaty soils of this trench have made our task that little bit harder but we generally expected that.

However, the trench looks really good now.

Digging deeper in Trench A.

The backfill of Renfrew’s 1973 trench has been removed and we hope to explore a little further. Hopefully, when we go further, we may find organic materials for dating purposes and possibly preserved artefacts.

Also we have returned to Trench C, under the supervision of Antonia and Jane. We have started to trowel back our own sections. It is quite a tough task. The differences in soil types are quite subtle and the top layers have a tough layer of iron panning running through it.

Overall, the work on the site has been amazing and very educating. We had a couple of bad days of weather this week but the sun is out today and that always lifts morale. However it does encourage the flies to pester us.

Hope you have enjoyed my diary entry and continue to keep up to date.

Thanks, Seamus.

Click here for more pictures from today.