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Book Review: The Ness of Brodgar: Digging Deeper Ancient Settlement Orkney

Submitted by Andy B on Wednesday, 08 August 2018  Page Views: 4084

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Country: Scotland County: Orkney Type: Ancient Village or Settlement

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Ness of Brodgar
Ness of Brodgar submitted by dodomad : A close-up of some of the finely incised designs. Image credit: Ola Thoenies / Ness of Brodgar Excavation Team (Vote or comment on this photo)
As the Ness of Brodgar excavations are currently running, it seems a good moment to review their book The Ness of Brodgar: Digging Deeper - by Roy Towers, Nick Card, and Mark Edmonds. All proceeds from the book support the ongoing excavations so it's well worth checking out. Mineralogist and archaeological researcher Rob Ixer has been having a look at it for us.

Rob Ixer writes: It could be cogently and probably correctly argued that the excavations at the Ness of Brodgar are revealing the most important Neolithic site in the British Isles, certainly this is true of any that is currently under the trowel. It may depend on how domestically-minded you are, hearths over hearts and minds and star charts.

This is extraordinary for a site that, until fifteen years ago, was effectively an unknown green pasture, running alongside the shortish path between the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness, but then it is an extraordinary site; the level of preservation, the complexity of the buildings and their construction methods and, of course, the variety of tactile small finds and kilos and kilos of Grooved Ware pottery (how greatly missed is their original name, Rinyo-Clactonian Ware, lost like the original sites)..

All this is illuminated in this small, 41 page booklet published to help fund the excavations. It is certainly worthy of the Ness with a straight forward informative and for the main part freshingly neutral text. The use in the captions of given names and/or their diminutives for incidental grinning persons shown in the photographs is a bit twee, however, the (probably) unnamed, tight-lipped sheep high-stepping in front of the Stones of Stenness (p9) are delightful. The last few pages do become a little more folksy; surly nobody in 2017 needs be told that Neolithic man ‘were people like us’ p35 (exemplified by three startled black and white passport photos that represent …something, modern Tom Dick and Harry maybe)

However, those aside, it is the photographs that stun, none disappoint, ranging from the panoramic, the Ness viewed from very similar angles to the only just macroscopic (seeds, flint ‘microliths’ and pottery crumbs). The text for the panoramas could be improved, or photos annotated perhaps, it will be a challenge for anyone not knowing the area to spot the Ring of Brodgar on page 9 and the discussion of applique decoration on Grooved Ware pots (p15) remains baffling despite four photographs. These are but minor niggles, all must be forgiven for the photographs of the structures, tightly keyed-in by the excellent plan and 3D photograph given on page 5. Time and time again a return to that that page unlocks the reading of the later pictures. The skill in the photography and their subsequent selection for this pamphlet is supremely masterful and really says everything.

Slightly over a quarter of the book deals with all the main structures. These are featured individually together with more outlying, partially excavated features. What is a surprise is the size of the Ness and its depth both spatially and temporally. Surrounding these pages are those describing and illustrating the small finds and the art found within those structures, giving concise introductions to all.

For a small inexpensive book this karate kicks well above its head. It serves as a pictorial introduction the visitor and those not lucky enough to visit, well, indeed very well.
Innovative, refreshingly processualist and essential.

Elegantly done. Buy and support.

Review by Rob Ixer.

The Ness of Brodgar: Digging Deeper - by Roy Towers, Nick Card, and Mark Edmonds.
Price £7 plus £3 UK shipping. (International shipping also available)
All proceeds support the ongoing excavations.
Available from www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/shop
Contributor Bio for Andy B: Megalithic Portal Founding Editor.

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"Book Review: The Ness of Brodgar: Digging Deeper" | Login/Create an Account | 1 comment
  
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Exceptional Stone Axe Discoveries at the Ness of Brodgar shed light on Neolithic Life by Andy B on Wednesday, 08 August 2018
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Some dig news too:

Sean Lisle writes: The Ness of Brodgar is one of the largest and most important Neolithic excavations in Northern Europe. The dig is continuing to reveal an increasingly large complex of monumental Neolithic structures together with ‘artwork’, over 30,000 pieces of pottery, large assemblages of bones and stone tools – including over 30 unique stone axes.

Last week archaeologists from the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute and the Ness of Brodgar Trust unearthed two polished stone axes in quick succession – items that give us a glimpse into the lives of the people who constructed this stone complex 5000 years ago.

The first axe was discovered in the closing moments of Thursday in the new trench on the shore of Loch of Stenness. The expertly worked and polished object was the largest axe so far discovered on site and had been heavily used and damaged at the cutting edge.

Nick Card, Site Director, said, “It is nice to find pristine examples of stone axes, but the damage on this one tells us a little bit more about the history of this particular axe. The fact that the cutting edge had been heavily damaged suggests that it was a working tool rather than a ceremonial object. We know that the buildings in the complex were roofed by stone slabs so this axe was perhaps used to cut and fashion the timber joists that held up the heavy roof.”

The second axe was discovered by one of our students, Therese McCormick, from Australia who’s volunteered at the Ness of Brodgar. This stone axe astonished the archaeologists on site through its sheer quality of workmanship. The Gneiss stone had been chosen so that the natural coloured banding was reflected in the shape of the item and then expertly worked and polished to create an object of beauty.

More at
https://archaeologyorkney.com/2018/08/07/exceptional-stone-axe-discoveries-at-the-ness-of-brodgar-shed-light-on-neolithic-life-in-orkney/
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