Ness of Brodgar

Structure 1

Structure 1 as it appeared in July 2016.

Structure 1 has a complex history and appears to have been built on top of the remains of an earlier structure.[10] The official guide to the dig suggests that this structure appears to have been central to the site. Originally it was more than 15 metres (49 ft) long, but was radically rebuilt within about a century of its first construction: two doors were blocked up, a new door was inserted and a new wall built. It was decorated with many pieces of stone artwork, some of which were internal to the walls and would never have been seen while the building was in use.[10]

Some of the individual stones of structure 1 were painted in yellows, reds, and oranges using ochre pigment made of haematite mixed with animal fat, milk or eggs.[11][12] This is the first discovery in Britain of evidence that Neolithic people used paint to decorate their buildings.

In 2015 the bones of a baby, which died around the time of birth, were unearthed in a recess of this building.[13]

Structure 8

In this image taken in July 2016, structure 8 is visible to the rear. The prominent structure is structure 11.

Structure 8 is roughly contemporary with structure 1, probably having been built just after structure 1 was completed.[14] It comprised ten piers and ten recesses, and had six hearths. The remains of at least two earlier buildings lie beneath it and structure 8 appears to have undergone severe subsidence itself. Its floor slumped in antiquity, causing the roof to fall in, and some of its stones were used to form structure 10.[14]

Structure 8 was the first place where stone roof tiles were discovered on site[15] and the first place where coloured pigment was found on the walls.[14]

Uniquely among the buildings of the Ness of Brodgar, and indeed uniquely in Neolithic Europe so far as we know, finely-worked stone spatulas were found here. They resemble flattened spoons and have been made with great care. None of them show signs of wear and their purpose is unknown.[14] Other finds from this structure included a whalebone mace head[16] and a whale's tooth set in stone.

Structure 10

This image taken in July 2016 shows archaeologists at work on structure 10.

Structure 10, artistic reconstruction c. 3000 BC.

Structure 10 was discovered in 2008, and was described by excavators as "temple-like". It has walls 4 metres (13 ft) thick and still standing to a height of more than 1 metre (3.3 ft). The building is 25 metres (82 ft) long and 20 metres (66 ft) wide and a standing stone with a hole shaped like an hourglass was incorporated into the walls. There is a cross-shaped inner sanctum and the building was surrounded by a paved outer passage. It is believed to have been constructed around 2,900 BCE, and appears to have been partly rebuilt around 2,800 BCE, probably due to structural instability.[1] This is the largest structure of its kind anywhere in the north of Britain and it would have dominated the ritual landscape of the peninsula.

Structure 10 was used until around 2,400–2,200 BCE, when it appears to have been "closed" in an extraordinary and unique episode of ceremonial demolition[17] involving the slaughter of several hundred cattle. Bones of approximately 400 cattle-tibias (shin bones)[1] comprise the vast majority of bones found.[18] The bones were laid around structure 10 and an upturned cow skull was placed within it. The tibias appear to have been cracked to extract the marrow, suggesting that this slaughter was accompanied by a feast. All the slaughter seems to have taken place in a single event.[18]

After the feast, the whole carcasses of several red deer were placed atop the broken bones, and structure 10 was largely destroyed.[18] This event appears to have marked the closure and abandonment of the Ness of Brodgar site.

Structure 12

Structure 12 in July 2016. Just visible at the back of this photograph is celebrity archaeologist Neil Oliver.

Structure 12 was built around 3,000 BCE. It comprises six piers, four recesses and two hearths. It is the southernmost structure so far uncovered, but there are believed to be more structures farther south still underground (some of which, unfortunately, may be under the site's spoil heap). It was made of well-dressed stone but, like several other buildings on the site, appears to have suffered from structural problems and was partly rebuilt. An annexe to the north, added later in the Neolithic, is not well integrated into the original stonework.[19]

This annexe contained masses of grooved ware pottery, including some very large vessels, some made with techniques not otherwise known from the Neolithic, and some coloured black, red or white.[19] The red colour was made of ochre, and the black of soot; the source of the white colouring has not yet been determined.

The grooved ware from Orkney is the oldest known in Britain, and the style appears to originate from Orkney and radiate southwards.[20]

Structure 14

Structure 14 as it appeared in July 2016. The tarpaulins visible in this image are left over from when the site was covered and closed down (dig restarted 4 July). The tyres were used to weigh them down.

Structure 14 was built around 3,000 BCE, roughly contemporaneously with structures 1, 8 and 12. Like them it was built on top of earlier structures. It is the most northerly of the buildings so far uncovered. It has three entrances, four piers, four recesses, and two hearths. Apart from its size it is generally similar in design to structure 8.[14]

A great deal of stone from structure 14 was taken in antiquity for re-use elsewhere, and like all the other structures except structure 10, it appears to have been largely demolished by 2,600 BCE.[21]

The ends of this building appear to have been used for different purposes and, as of 2016, the floor is undergoing chemical analysis to determine what they were.[14]

An unusual axehead, made from gneiss,[22] and a carinated bowl from the early Neolithic which may predate grooved ware,[23] have been found in this structure.