Time Team podcast – ‘Orkney Neolithic site starts to reveal its secrets’

This week's Time Team podcast, with Helen Geake and Martyn Williams, recorded during week three of the dig, features Jackie McKinley pondering what our Neolithic building might have been and Dani Wootton's potential rock art discovery.

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Ness questions answered…a Time Team podcast

Last week, site director Nick was interviewed for a Time Team question-and-answer session on the Ness of Brodgar.

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Explore Trench W with new 3D model

Hot of the digital press - a splendid new 3d model from Paul Durdin, showing the results of the 2026 excavation.

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Diary extra – Trench W on the final day

Drone photograph of Trench W on the final day of the 2026 excavation.

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Dig diary – we thought it was all over…it is now

A couple of discoveries on our last day on site.

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Dig diary – that’s all folks…

The last dig diary ever. Famous last words...

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Dig diary – Structure Forty‑Five confirmed as its neighbour’s architecture and closure clarified

Structure Forty‑Four’s buttresses proved primary; its entrance was deliberately blocked. New walls revealed Structure Forty‑Five, an elaborate doorway and a fine spatulate tool.

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Dig diary – A narrower doorway, a deeper hearth and a mystery wall to end the day

Structure Forty‑Four’s entrance, hearth and flooring clarified, but a late‑day curving wall raises eyebrows.

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Diary extra – Structure Forty-Four from above

Drone's eye view of Structure Forty-Four this afternoon.

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Dig diary – Structure Forty‑Four christened and its monumental entrance revealed

We suspected it was there and the entrance was confirmed today. And may be much bigger than expected!

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Dig diary – incised stone brings week three to a close in true Ness style

Week three drew to a close in typical Ness style - with a decorated stone...

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Dig diary – reaching the base of the central hearth

Hearth deposits were shallow, more foundation slabs emerged, and excavation confirmed a surrounding gully - all adding to our structure's "very odd” character.

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Diary extra – 3d model of Joanne’s ‘jigsaw puzzle’ pot…

A 3d model of Joanne Greave's reconstructed pot from Structure Thirty-Four.

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Dig diary – an external working area and possible rock art

Another very productive day on site with excavation in and around the remains of our new building.

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Diary extra – 3d model of ard marks

A photogrammetry model from Paul Durdin showing one group of prehistoric ard marks in Trench W.

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Dig diary – stratigraphic detective work

A drain, a hearth and clarifying the story of our new structure.

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Dig diary – home is where the hearth is

Today, we can say with confidence that we are looking at a hearth at the centre of a Late Neolithic building in Trench W.

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Time Team’s Ness special available to all tonight

Following its world premiere in Orkney earlier this month, Time Team's Ness of Brodgar special will go live to the public at 7pm tonight.

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Dig diary – gneiss, soil and a shadow of something taking shape

Today's update from the end of week two.

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Dig diary – has medieval ploughing erased most of our mysterious structure?

Work to uncover the final trench quadrant - the north-western one - got under way today, revealing another small section of the circular anomaly.

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Dig diary – three quadrants exposed

A shorter diary than usual because it's been full steam ahead in the trench today.

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Dig diary – a planning marathon, orthostats, clay and Grooved Ware

Trench TT yielded fresh clues today, including a projecting orthostat, yellow clay layers and a fragment of Grooved Ware pottery.

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Dig diary – another slice of the anomaly and the axe that wasn’t

Another bright, busy day saw new orthostats emerge within the circular anomaly, continued rubble removal along the trench edge, fresh planning and sampling — plus a fleeting false alarm over a “stone axe.”

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Imagination rebuilds the Ness – three days of Lego creativity comes to an end

Our three-day Big Ness Lego Build ended today and has been hailed a resounding success.

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Dig diary – week one ends with more prehistoric ard marks

Week one draws to a close and what a productive one it's been.

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Dig diary – ard marks and emerging buildings

Today's update from Trench TT as we near the end of week one.

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Dig diary – mist, mud… and an Early Neolithic arrowhead

As work continued, the third example of an Early Neolithic leaf arrowhead emerged from Trench TT.

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Dig diary – excavation Begins in Trench TT as visitors flock to the Ness

A far more forgiving day, weather‑wise, saw the cleaning of the new trench completed and excavation begin.

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Dig diary – a new start at the Ness, even if the weather had other ideas

The new trench is opened, cleaned (nearly) and we're all set to go.

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We’re back on site tomorrow. . . and here’s why

We’re back on site tomorrow to investigate an intriguing circular feature revealed by the Time Team ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey in July 2025.

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