Archaeologists make 'astonishing' discovery of 5,000-year-old piece of wood in Orkney

The Scotsman, tall and handsome built ^ | Tuesday, August 10th, 2021 | Alison Campsie

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Archaeologists found the wood while excavating the Ness of Brodgar, home to a vast network of buildings, including a temple-style complex, that thrummed with activity during the Neolithic period.

Sigurd Towrie, of the University of Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute, said it was the first time wood had been found on the site... at 'structure 12' on the site, a large rectangular building that is some 17-metres long.

The building was divided up inside by pillars to create a series of bays, alcoves and recesses which surrounded two large hearths.

Access to this was by three entrances, one that was flanked by a pair of standing stones that faced the burial chamber at Maeshowe, with the building likely a "stunning sight" in the immense Neolithic landscape of mainland Orkney.

Mr Towrie said the wood was found in a post hole and had survived probably due to its preservation under a tiny amount of water...

Recent studies of the "woodlands under the waves" included analysis of remains of a forests, which had been pushed under the water at Bay of Ireland near Stromness, which has been dated to around 6,000-years-old...

The earliest structures on the site were built around 3300 BC, with the site closed down and abandoned after around 1,000 years.

Decorated stone slabs, thousands of sherds of pottery and a temple-style building are among key finds at Ness of Brodgar...

Earlier this year, a potter’s fingerprint was discovered on a vessel made some 5,000 years ago...

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The vast Ness of Brodgar site in Orkney. PIC: Contributed.

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Why would rising sea levels lead to deforestation in the Orkneys? Rising sea levels could flood some low lying coastal areas and stream valleys, but I would think forests would not be affected even a few feet above the shoreline. Is the whole water table so low that a few feet would make that much of a difference on the spread of salinity in groundwater?

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There used to be more extensive land, which was forested, but is now covered by the ocean. The rest of the island's forests got used up, maybe as recently as the medieval period, when the Vikings swarmed in. The presence of the remains of a submerged forest is interesting because the same thing is found in places off Wales, and the Sinking Lands that used to bridge Britain with Ireland shows up in the Welsh Mabinogeon tales I think. And off the end of Cornwall was (supposedly) the land of Lyonnesse.