Ness of Bodgar dig....

 

As summer in Orkney draws to a close, so do the archaeological digs.  A couple of weeks ago I went to see the extraordinary dig at the Ness of Brodgar.  Yet again my photos do not do the site justice so do take a look at their website here

The site is huge and interpretation is ongoing as new areas come to light.  The walls of the buildings (well remains of them) are clear even to a novice like me.  Some rudimentary art has been found, animal bones, pottery and lots of interesting artefacts.  Next year will be the final year of digging.  Those who have supervised the dig since the beginning feel it is a suitable time to stop.  Partly to leave something for future generations to investigate with new techniques and ideas etc, and partly so they can write up all their findings before (in the words of one senior archaeologist) we are all to old to do it! 

So here are some of my photos - it was a grey day with drizzle but that didn't dampen the interest of the tourists, even if the archaeologists would have preferred something a little drier!

Click on these (as with others) to enlarge.  This helps position and orientate the dig....

An Orthostat (standing stone), the remains are in a corner of one of the structures.

You can clearly see the curve in the wall of this structure.

And the landscape around the dig...

Looking back to the Standing Stones of Stenness, over to the left (out of shot) is the chambered tomb of Maes Howe.

Looking across the loch to the hills of Hoy, hiding in the cloud.

And one of the finds when I was there.  It had just come out the ground, and was believed to be an anvil used for knapping flint arrow heads.  OK I know it looks like a Neolithic baked potato, but I can assure you it was hard stone.... but then so are some of my baked potatoes. Ha!