

Digging at Ness of Brodgar ending in 2024 with focus shifting to intensive post-excavation work
The final season of excavation at the Ness of Brodgar will take place in 2024, after which the remains of the 5,000-year-old Neolithic complex will be covered over and backfilled.

MLitt and MSc courses now enrolling for September start
We are accepting students for our MLitt in Archaeological Studies and MSc in Archaeological Practice postgraduate programmes, both of which start in September 2023.

Video: history, archaeology and nationalism in Scandinavia
Our free online research seminar this month will look at the use archaeology and history in right-wing political parties in Scandinavia.

New project to document endangered heritage sites in Pacific islands
The UHI Archaeology Institute is one of the partners in a new research project to assess methods to document endangered cultural heritage sites in the Cook Islands and Niue.

‘Landscapes Revealed’ named book of the year at Current Archaeology awards
Landscapes Revealed: geophysical survey in the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Area, 2002-2011 has been named Current Archaeology’s book of the year 2023.

Tombs of the Isles update – Fitty Hill, Westray
We’re in Westray for today’s Tombs of the Isles project update – in particular Fitty Hill, a probable Orkney-Cromarty style stalled cairn.

Link: Is the Wirk a castle? Evaluating previous excavations
A new blog post for the Castle Studies Trust, by Dan Lee and Dr Sarah Jane Gibbon, on the 2021 excavation at the Wirk, Rousay.

Tombs of the Isles – Midhowe, Knowe of Yarso and Hermisgarth additions
Two more updates to our Tombs of the Isles project pages – the addition of an early report of the excavations at Midhowe and the Knowe of Yarso.

Link: Investigating the function and significance of multi-hollowed cobbles in the Orcadian Neolithic
In a new blog post for the Ness of Brodgar, UHI Archaeology Institute MRes student Gary Lloyd introduces his new research project looking into multi-hollowed cobbles in the Orcadian Neolithic.

Dates set for this summer’s excavation at Skaill farm
Excavation of the multi-period settlement site at Skaill, Rousay, resumes on July 10, running until July 28.

Trade routes revealed – experts examine late and post-medieval ceramics imported into Orkney
As part of the LIFTE research project, an international group of ceramics specialists gathered in Orkney this week to examine the entire assemblage of imported late medieval and early post medieval pottery from Orkney.

Geophysics casts doubt on two Neolithic tomb candidates in Sanday
Geophysical surveys of two possible Neolithic chambered cairns in Sanday were among the Tombs of the Isles project activities that took place at the end of 2022.

Tombs of the Isles – Taversoe Tuick and Blackhammer updated
Work on our Tombs of the Isles project is ongoing, as we gather more information on the sites of definite and suspected chambered cairns in Orkney’s North Isles.

ORCA re-registered by chartered institute after successful inspection
ORCA, the commercial arm of the UHI Archaeology Institute, has been re-registered by the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA)

Researcher bound for Orkney on three-month scholarship exchange
The UHI Archaeology Institute will host a researcher from India in April as part of an international programme run by the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH).

PhD thesis earns prize for UHI Archaeology Institute researcher
Dr Magdalena Blanz has been awarded the BAG-Förderpreis 2021 by the Austrian Society for Bioarchaeology (BAG) for her PhD dissertation.

Students urged to complete Orkney Islands Council housing survey
Orkney Islands Council is looking to engage with students – recent movers to Orkney and those looking to move – to find out more about their housing needs.

Seminar: new thoughts on Iron Age stalled buildings of northern Scotland
The first UHI Archaeology Institute online research seminar of 2023 takes place next week and will see Martin Carruthers and Scott Timpany casting a fresh eye on Iron Age stalled buildings.