Category Archives: Orkney

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Long-time readers of this blog will recall that I’ve mentioned the excavations of the Ness of Brodgar site on a couple of occasions. Situated on the strip of land between two lochs and between the famous Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness as well as the nearby Maes Howe, work started there in earnest in 2007 after earlier digs in 2004 had hinted at something major.

I confess that through pressure of work I’d rather lost touch with the latest developments until I caught a TV programme on the BBC last night. Neil Oliver, well known for the Coast programme and a series of Scottish history programs, is actually an archaeologist and in this special edition of A History of Ancient Britain: Orkney’s Stone Age Temple he outlines the astonishing discoveries that have been made on this site in the last few years. If you are in a country that can view the BBC iPlayer I urge you to take a look http://bbc.in/s0dYWK while it’s still available to view. This could well be THE most important stone age discovery, eclipsing everything else on Orkney (which takes some doing!) and even the Stonehenge and Avebury complex.

If you can’t see the program then take a look at the Orkneyjar site – particularly http://www.orkneyjar.com/archaeology/nessofbrodgar/ and  http://www.orkneyjar.com/archaeology/tag/ness-of-brodgar/  and for a couple of panoramas of the dig site try http://www.kenstuart.com/fp/Aerial.html  and  http://www.kenstuart.com/fp/Structure10.html

The discoveries are too numerous to attempt to list in the slightest detail here – a series of complex stone structures which suggest a temple complex which may have been associated with ancestor worship, two large (2 metre wide) walls which appear to have run the width of the Ness and funnelled people into a predetermined path, the first examples of painted neolithic walls in the UK or northern Europe, a number of mace-heads apparently broken deliberately, a number of “dressers” similar to the ones found in domestic areas of Skara Brae but here appearing to be free standing and possibly used as altars, a figurine which has been nicknamed the Brodgar Boy, and a mass of cattle bones which appears to suggest a large ceremonial feast.

There are probably decades worth of work still to be done on the site and an anonymous benefactor has bought the land on which the site stands along with the house for the people of Orkney. I look forward to reading of the discoveries and theories around this site for many years to come.

 

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One of the subjects that seems to be close to the hearts of a great many Dunnett readers is archaeology, and when combined with the enchanting location of Thorfinn’s Orkney Isles where Maes Howe and the Ring of Brodgar appeared within the King Hereafter story, this becomes very much on-topic. A few days ago, no longer able to keep my mind on ever-present work tasks, I escaped into my list of favourite sites for a few minutes and visited Sigurd Towrie’s Orkneyjar. It was with some shock that I realised that the digging season was already shutting down and that I hadn’t looked at the latest developments on the big excavation at the Ness of Brodgar this year and hadn’t realised the amount of investigation going on in the Ring itself during this summer.

The developments on both sites have been astonishing, with many structures of major significance discovered and new information about sea levels and the likely differences in topography and landscape in the area which suggest a radical reinterpretation of the way in which the structures of the area may have been used. The excavations in the Ring of Brodgar, principally two large trenches at opposite sides of the ring, have been deeper than ever before and amongst other things should help to establish a much better idea of the real date of the structure and shed new light on the methods of construction.

It would be pointless for me to even attempt any more of a summary here – there is simply far too much and as yet, with the digging only recently coming to an end, much of the discoveries have not yet been analysed or organised into anything resembling conclusions. That work will doubtless be going on over the winter and promises to be intriguing . For now just visit the site and follow the many threads and excavation diary notes. Leave plenty of time – they’ve found an awful lot of buildings, artefacts and information and you may well emerge to find it’s already tomorrow!

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There was recently a Dunnett mini-gathering in Orkney organised by Anne Artymiuk which she tells me went superbly well. I would love to have been there for I adore Orkney, as readers of my Modern Orkney Saga and its follow-up will know, but my holidays have been used up for this year (as described in my new personal blog). Apparently Anne, who moved to Orkney because of reading Dorothy’s descriptions of it, has managed to recruit some new Dunnett enthusiasts from the islands, so Dorothy’s ideas on Thorfinn will have some local adherents. It’s just a pity that with King Hereafter not being in print in the UK that the book isn’t on sale there.

Scotlandontv

While reading one of the newsletters I’m subscribed to I remembered to check a fairly new site that will be of interest to those of you who haven’t been able to visit Orkney or Scotland. It’s called Scotland on TV and is run by Scottish Television – who of course once had Dorothy on their board of directors. They currently have videos available that include a 4-part aerial survey of the Orkneys (The Edge of the Land) and a real Scots treasure in some extracts from the series of programmes called Weir’s Way.

Until his death in 2006 at the age of 92, Tom Weir was the grand old man of Scottish hillwalking and mountaineering and his programmes from the 1960s and 70s have become a cult amongst late-night TV watchers and internet viewers. A superb author and storyteller, his TV shows have a wonderful homely feel to them and his knowledge of Scottish history and geography is gently but enthusiastically communicated. Although the film stock and shooting techniques weren’t always the best you also get some fine views of the Scottish landscapes. Amongst the clips on show at the moment there are four (Weir’s Way – Leadhills, Parts 1-4) concerning the area surrounding the source of the River Clyde and the area and village of Crawford. An added bonus for bibliophiles is that it includes a visit to the historic little library there. Definitely recommended.

There are lots more videos to explore on the site – clips of the new seaplane service from Glasgow to Oban have some good pictures of Loch Lomond, while the film of the Isle of Bute also has some grand landscape. For those of you who wished they could make it over to the Saddle gathering earlier this year there is also an all too short clip on the Crinan Canal, which Dorothy and Alastair visited regularly. Those of you who know Cindy Byrne can get a brief glimpse of the area of the Kintyre Peninsula where she now lives and operates The Old Bookshelf.

Finally, best wishes to the Oxford Day gathering which is due to take place shortly.

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Two settings very familiar to Dunnett readers have been the scenes of major archaeological finds recently.

In Orkney a settlement has been discovered on the Ness of Brodgar, between the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness, that is being described as very significant – perhaps as important as the world famous Scara Brae. Early suggestions are that it may have been connected to these two famous sites, though whether it is composed of dwelling houses or ritual buildings seems to depend on which reports you read.

BBC News article – News from the Site on Orkneyjar – Background to the original excavation in 2004.

In Edinburgh Castle a fragment from a tower destroyed during a 16th century siege has been uncovered during building work. The Constable Tower was previously believed completely lost but Historic Scotland archaeologist Peter Yeoman and his team discovered a finely carved piece of a window while excavating a drain being cleared prior to a new visitor facility being built.

Tollcross Online article.