Archaeologists working on a Neolithic site in Orkney believed they had done all they could to unravel its mysterious ancient history.
But having packed up their tools in 2024 at Ness of Brodgar, one of the most important sites of its kind in the British Isles, they will soon be returning, following a discovery said to be unlike anything previously seen.
Nick Card, the former director of the site, would not reveal any details of the find, made through new 3D radar technology. But he describes the advance as “something quite extraordinary”.
Interviewed on the Time Team’s podcast, Mr Card, who will be returning for the new dig beginning next July, said the find had “clarified” aspects of the site, and shown that what is known represents the “tip of this huge archaeological iceberg”.
The archaeologists’ choice of language implies it is something that reshapes their understanding of what connects the site’s previously uncovered buildings, such as an army base, palace or temple.
Archaeologists at the Ness of Brodgar site, where a dig was carried out for two decades, ending in 2024 - Angus McComiskey/Alamy
The location of the Ness of Brodgar site is just south-east of the Ring of Brodgar, a Neolithic stone circle
Official excavations at Ness of Brodgar ended in 2024 after two decades, but a scan of the site this summer, carried out using ground-penetrating radar (GPR), has produced 3D images of the whole site for the first time.
Mr Card told BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast programme: “We think this is so unusual that it could add a new chapter to the history of the Ness.
“It’s at a bit of the site where there doesn’t seem to be any deep archaeology, so it’s not like we’re getting into another 20 years of excavations.
“The archaeology that will be uncovered will be quite different. Don’t expect three-dimensional Neolithic buildings. Possibly it is not Neolithic, I think probably later, but it could be contemporary.”
The 40 structures already uncovered at the three-hectare site were built in waves between roughly 3,500BC and 2,400BC – the period known as the Neolithic era, which also saw the building of Stonehenge in Wiltshire.
Previous digs have uncovered a 20ft stone wall, evidence of decorated stone slabs and a large building described as a Neolithic temple. The Ness lies just south-east of the Ring of Brodgar, a Neolithic stone circle.
A selection of polished mace heads found at the Ness, and, below, an almost complete grooved ware vessel
An almost complete grooved ware vessel
In 2016, the Ness was the subject of a BBC Scotland documentary, Britain’s Ancient Capital: Secrets of Orkney.
The latest dig is being funded by the TV programme Time Team for a new episode it will be making next year.
Mr Card said the dig would use “keyhole surgery” to open a small trench to investigate the ruins.
He added: “We always said that when we put the trenches to bed, that was the end of the fieldwork. But last summer we conducted several types of geophysics, and what that has showed up is something quite extraordinary.
“This was the first time this particular form of GPR had been used in Scotland.
“The preliminary results have just been amazing but we still have to get more analysed.
“All of this then needs to be stitched together and we’ll create 3D models of the site which will give us a much better understanding of the development of the Ness.”