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After 20 years, excavation work at Orkney's Ness of Brodgar will come to a close at the end of this week (16th August).Over the last two decades, this sprawling dig in the heart of Orkney's World Heritage Site has become one of the most important archaeological projects in the world. It has revealed a huge complex of Neolithic buildings covering three hectares, with more lying undisturbed across this ancient landscape.Finds have included beautiful decorated and painted stones, polished axe heads, carved stone balls, and even human and animal bones. But more than that, the excavation has changed the way we...

Evidence of woven textile from 5,000 years ago has been found for only the second time in Scotland. The piece of Neolithic fabric has not survived, but archaeologists did find the impression it left on the wet clay of a pot millennia ago. The discovery was made by archaeologists examining markings on pottery from Ness of Brodgar in Orkney. Evidence of Neolithic woven textile in Scotland was first found at Flint Howe, near Stranraer, in 1966. An impression of the fabric had also been spotted on a piece of clay... Organic material from prehistory only survives under certain conditions, and...

A fingerprint left on a clay vessel made by a potter 5,000 years ago has been found in Orkney.The print was discovered on a surviving fragment of the object at the Ness of Brodgar archaeological site.Archaeologists have been excavating at the complex of ancient buildings in the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site since 2006.Imaging technology was used to reveal the fingerprint left after the potter pressed a finger into wet clay.Ness of Brodgar is the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) Archaeology Institute's flagship excavation site.The potter's fingerprint was noted by ceramics specialist Roy Towers, who was...

Archaeological excavations have continued this summer within ‘The Heart of Neolithic Orkney’ World Heritage Site. The Ring of Brodgar, the third largest standing stone circle in Britain and the Ness of Brodgar, its accompanying settlement site, have been the focus of an investigation funded by Historic Scotland and Orkney Island Council under the direction of Dr Jane Downes (Orkney College UHI) and Dr Colin Richards (Manchester University). This season saw the anticipated re-opening of Professor Colin Renfrew’s 1973 trenches at the Ring of Brodgar, the impressive monument which is thought to be 4 to 4,500 years old although the date...