Excavation
Date 4 July 2022 - 19 August 2022
Event ID 1163390
Category Recording
Type Excavation
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1163390
HY 303 129 The 2022 excavation at Ness of Brodgar (Canmore ID: 2106 and 269123; DES Volumes 3–20; DES Volume 22) resumed operations at almost a full pre-COVID 19 level with Trenches P, J and T being opened, apart from Structure 12 for logistical reasons. In Trench J, the removal of the remains of Structure 32 built in the remains of the earlier Structure 5 revealed the original large rectangular hearth and more of the floor/occupation deposits relating to the primary phase of Structure 5. A large whalebone mattock (?) was also recovered from the floor close to the hearth along with a polished stone axe. Potential ‘dresser’- like arrangements relating to this primary phase were located along its N, E and W walls akin to the ‘cupboards’ encountered at the Knap of Howar. Six large structural postholes were revealed against the inner wallface of the original build of Structure 5, one either side of the entrance, and four others around its interior. The use of posts to support the roof is in stark contrast to the later piered buildings where apart from the use of large posts to shore up collapsing roofs none have been identified. The posts were
removed, with the later phase addition of an extension to the NE end. Artefacts – including stone tools, a decorated stone and a whale vertebra – were deposited in the empty sockets before being covered over.
Trench J was also slightly extended to reveal more of the inner face of the northern boundary wall and further investigate its construction and clarify its relationship to Structure 5. Excavation revealed a set of steps tied into the fabric of the inner wallface and confirmed that the boundary wall postdates the primary phases of Structure 5.
In Trench P work in Structure 10 continued to concentrate on unpicking the complex floor deposits based on a 0.5m grid for sampling. Further features were revealed relating to the primary phase of its use, including small postholes, robbed out orthostatic divisions, and pits.
Work also resumed this year in Structure 8, the longest later piered building at the Ness. The remains of the last of the primary floor deposits and features were removed across the structure to reveal more of the two smaller piered structures under it, 17 and
18. This revealed that Structures 17 and 18 were separated by a paved area, before elements of both were incorporated into the fabric of Structure 8. Notable discoveries in the primary phase of Structure 8 were the head of a human femur in a stone box/ hearth type setting.
Excavation was also resumed in Structure 1. A key focus was investigating the construction and remodelling episodes that defined the boundary between Phase 1 (double cruciform architecture) and Phase 2 (single cruciform architecture). This involved the continued excavation of secondary phase architectural features, including the three perpendicular
orthostatic divisions that demarcated the northern bays and alcoves during Phase 2, and an additional structural orthostat, which functioned as a revetment for the later inserted curving wall. Deconstruction of these features was crucial to fully establish and link the sequence of early occupation deposits across the northern and southern internal areas. Excavations of the complex series of early phase occupation-derived deposits, clay floor patches, and midden levelling layers in the northern and southern internal areas of the building also continued. Notable discoveries were numerous small stakeholes cutting the clay flooring abutting the original hearth in the southern end of the building. A limited amount of work was also carried out in the external area around Structure 1 to confirm and clarify the chronological relationships between Structure 1 and the adjacent buildings, 7/19, 21 and 11.
Trench T over the monumental midden mound was also
reopened with work concentrated on revealing more of Structure 27 and its internal floors and features. The complexity of the infilling layers prevented much of the interior being revealed except in a couple of small sondages. Where exposed, the floor seemed to consist of clean yellow clay but this may yet prove to be an initial deliberate infilling deposit. Externally, although the walls on the SW end and SE side had been mainly robbed in prehistory, the removal of more robbing debris revealed massive paving slabs extending out from, and in places sitting on, the stepped foundations. These slabs also formed the capping stones to a drainage system around the exterior of Structure 27, which was connected to a drain exiting the interior under the southwestern end wall. However, the outer wallface on the NW side was much better preserved and revealed fine and beautifully coursed masonry – some of the finest in Neolithic Orkney. The base of this slightly curving outer wall has yet to be fully revealed but it is expected that the external paving encountered on the other sides of the building continues and that the wall will survive to circa 0.5m in height. A deposit of animal bone started to appear above the paving, reminiscent of the large bone deposits encountered around Structure 10, though more mixed and not as dense. This will be further explored in 2023.
Removal of more robbing debris over this NW side wall also
clarified the construction again akin to Structure 10 with a narrow band of midden core sandwiched between carefully laid stone core material. The quality and unusual nature of the architecture of Structure 27 sets it apart from other structures at the Ness and elsewhere.
For more information see www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk and the interim volume Card, N., Edmonds, M., & Mitchell, A (eds) 2020 Ness of Brodgar, as it stands. Kirkwall.
Archive: NRHE and Orkney HER (intended)
Funder: Orkney Islands Council; Ness of Brodgar Trust; American Friends of the Ness of Brodgar; UHI Archaeology Institute; Orkney Archaeology Society
Nick Card – Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA), UHI Archaeology Institute
(Source: DES Volume 23)
