For the second time in its history, the Ness of Brodgar excavation has been named Research Project of the Year at the Current Archaeology Awards.
At the 2024 awards ceremony in London on Saturday, project director Nick Card was also awarded the title Archaeologist of the Year.
Both awards were collected on behalf of the Ness by Time Team stalwart and geophysicist John Gater.
Commenting on the project’s success, Nick Card said: “We were up against extremely fine archaeologists and projects, so are both delighted and humbled by this recognition.
“To receive two awards is a great accolade to all the hard work that the Ness team has put into the project over the past 20 years and a fitting celebration to mark the end of two decades of excavation. Both awards I feel are for the whole team and thank you to everyone who voted and deemed us worthy of these awards.”
2024 marks a major milestone in the history of the UHI Archaeology Institute/Ness of Brodgar Trust project.
The final season of fieldwork will conclude in August, after which the archaeology will be covered over to preserve it for future generations. But although digging is ending, the project continues and will move into the vital post-excavation research and full publication phase.
Meanwhile, the excavations at the Knowe of Swandro, in Rousay, were named Rescue Project of the Year at Saturday’s award ceremony.
The site, with activity running from the Iron Age to the Norse period, is being destroyed by coastal erosion so, in 2010, work began to excavate and record as much of it as possible before the archaeology is completely washed away.
The project is run by the Swandro-Orkney Coastal Archaeology Trust and the University of Bradford.
