In a few weeks archaeologists will gather at the Ness of Brodgar in Orkney and for the next two months will excavate one of the largest prehistoric sites in Europe.
Over the past 20 summers, scientists and volunteers have excavated here, uncovering wonders such as 5,000-year-old temple ruins, hearths, ceramic figurines and exquisite pottery.
Then, on August 16, the team will unload their trowels and brushes for the last time. Earth will be poured over the ancient walls they have been trying to uncover for the past two decades, the ground across the River Ness will be re-turfed and the area will be permanently returned to its former state: an anonymous green space.
This seems like an extraordinary decision, akin to turning over mounds of earth to hide Stonehenge from future generations. Still, archaeologists are adamant that this year’s excavation at Ness should be the last excavation there for the foreseeable future.
“What we have discovered is just the tip of a huge archaeological iceberg,” said Nick Card, who has led excavations at Ness since the excavations were uncovered in 2003. “There are more than 100 buildings here. Beneath the newest ones lie countless old structures.
“We want to leave these next buildings intact. We want to avoid destroying them to get to what lies beneath. Therefore, we will leave this task to future archaeologists who we hope will benefit from new technologies. “We have now assembled a large collection of finds from Ness, which we now need to study in laboratories and museums.”
Ness sits on a headland separating Loch Stenness and Loch Harray, Orkney’s two largest inland bodies of water. It features a large mound that was originally thought to be composed of glacial debris until geophysical survey in 2002 revealed a much more complex composition.
Excavations began and showed that the mound was mostly man-made. It was found that there were dozens of buildings in the six-acre area, connected by stone floors to outbuildings and kitchens. The bones of hundreds of cattle, exquisitely made pottery and painted ceramic shards were found scattered around the site, ruins of a neolithic civilization that began building buildings here more than 5,000 years ago.
In its size and sophistication it rivals the wonders of Ness, Sutton Hoo and Hadrian’s Wall. Yet the Ness complex is thousands of years older; Excavations show that this site, now operated by the Ness of Brodgar Trust and the University of the Highlands and Islands Institute of Archaeology, was primarily a gathering place.
For hundreds of years neolithic people from Orkney and surrounding islands came here to worship, exchange goods and socialize. This was a place to pray, trade and party.
It was also an important domain. During the late neolithic period between 3200 and 2500 BC, the final phase of the Stone Age, a new type of pottery called fluted ware was adopted in the British Isles. “This was the first pan-British cultural phenomenon that we know of, and it originated in Orkney and then spread to the rest of the country,” Card said.
“At that time Ness was known not only in Orkney but throughout Britain. It was occupied for approximately 60 to 70 generations. This is the same timeline that separates us today from the people alive at the Battle of Hastings. “So you can see that this is a place of lasting cultural significance.”
Card added that another important factor that played a role in the decision to rebury Ness had to do with the stones used to construct the buildings. “Unlike the durable beach stones used to build other ancient sites such as Skara Brae in Orkney, those at Ness are quarried and begin to laminate and crumble when exposed to air. So we can’t leave them exposed. We need to rebury them.”
As for the possibility of future technologies that will revolutionize the study of prehistoric artifacts and thus allow Ness to one day be reopened, Card pointed to techniques such as ancient DNA analysis, which have improved significantly since 2003 and are already being used in a variety of fields. Different ways. For example, it reveals how pottery used the food scraps it absorbed.
“Drones have also transformed aerial surveys in the field; We were flying our cameras with kites. “There is hope that in the future new types of radar and other systems will be able to tell us what lies beneath the upper layers of buildings on the Ness.”
Other studies suggest that the people who built Ness were very similar to people today; but life at that time was by no means utopian: there are signs that they suffered from scurvy.
“Ness has been my life for the last 20 years,” Card added. “It was an all-consuming experience. I am very lucky to have been involved in this business from the beginning and to have been able to continue it until the end; This won’t happen for a very long time though. “Cataloging and publishing the multitude of findings we uncover will keep our teams busy for years to come.”