A team from the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute together with community volunteers will commence the excavation phase of the exciting community archaeology ‘Mapping Magnus’ project by digging test pits around the medieval site of the Bishops Palace.
Dan Lee, Dr Ingrid Mainland, Dr Jen Harland and Dr Sarah Jane Gibbon from the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute, together with a team of local volunteers and schoolchildren, embarked on a programme of archaeology in Rousay, Orkney over the summer 2017.
Work at Skaill farmstead, Westness, Rousay, got under way last week with some building survey, walkover survey and a workshop with the Rousay Community School.
Some of the most significant finds in archaeology are not found by trained archaeologists, but by members of the public.
The Stromness Museum is celebrating a £9,700 Heritage Lottery Fund grant as part of the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology 2017.
The Swartigill excavation is a community dig. This means that local people are involved at all stages of the process and local volunteers receive basic training in archaeological methods and help with the actual dig.
Monday was a bit disrupted by the snow, but we got a good afternoon’s work in and made some good progress defining the rest of the rubble and possible structural features in the north end of the trench. As you can see in the photo, there are numerous possible wall lines and linear features showing through.
Nick Card, site director of the Ness of Brodgar excavation, looks forward to presenting the exciting story of the Neolithic site to members of the Archaeological Institute of America.
Throughout the summer, if you are aged between 12 and 16, you could be part of the dig team for one morning at the world famous Ness of Brodgar archaeology dig.
