The excavation of the recently discovered late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age settlement dating to c.2500-2000BC is now under way. It is early days, but already the team are beginning to unearth finds.
It has to be said that the island of Sanday in Orkney can be a little exposed at times – being situated in the North Atlantic – but the weather has been kind over the last few days to the team working in one of the northern most islands in Orkney. The site itself is beautifully located on the beach, but in many ways this adds to the difficulties as erosion is an ever present danger. In many respects the team are working against the clock, knowing that the site may be damaged by the next winter storm.
The location also works against us in the respect that up to the minute Twitter, Facebook and social media posts are difficult from this isolated outpost. So if you are used to the daily coverage from our other sites then please forgive us on this occasion for not being so up to the minute.
However, Chris Gee, Project Officer Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology UHI Archaeology Institute, managed to send us a brief report on the first couple of days at the dig.
On Sunday 13th August and Monday 14th August we cleaned the beach deposits from the site, and as indicated by the magnetometer survey, revealed midden material and an arc of stone spread possibly indicating a wall beneath. The inital work has already produced many exciting finds including skaill knives, flint working waste and a fine rubber stone which has also been used as a pounder and possible anvil.
The excavation team includes Prof Colin Richards, Prof Jane Downes, Christopher Gee from the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute and Dr Vicki Cummings from UClan in addition to participants from the Sanday Archaeology Group, University of Cambridge, and students from UHI and UCLan, but also involves specialists from as far away as the School of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, Galicia, Spain.
