The opening of an exhibition next week launches a summer celebrating the art and heritage of Orkney’s earth.
The UHI Archaeology Institute and Ness of Brodgar Trust are among the supporters of Earthbound Orkney – a summer-long programme of talks, training, exhibitions and a book.
The earth beneath our feet has been at the heart of Orkney’s culture and construction for millennia. Funded by Historic Environment Scotland, Tom Morton and Becky Little, specialists in the heritage of natural materials, have been studying Orkney’s clay subsoils for the last three years.
Mr Morton, programme director, said: ‘‘It’s really exciting to be able to share this work with a wide public audience as well as heritage professionals.
“The story of how clay earth has been used by people in Orkney has been a quiet mystery and there is such a wealth of earth on the islands to be discovered.’’
Opening on Thursday, June 27, the free exhibition runs at the Maeshowe visitor centre, in Stenness, until August 31, when it will move to Kirkwall for the 2024 Orkney International Science Festival.
It features small clay balls recovered from several Neolithic sites, alongside artwork exploring the different character of clay soils across the islands.
The clay balls have been found on at least eight Orkney site – sometimes a single ball, sometimes dozens, some rough and lumpy, others smoothly spherical. Who made them and why is unclear.
While they are unusual in Scotland, similar things have been made around the world in other cultures and times.
What is clear is that a relationship to earth was key to the Neolithic culture on Orkney. Farming relied on knowledge of the fertility and drainage of earth, while pottery required an understanding of the physical chemistry of different clays, their plasticity and response to heat.
This exhibition presents an exploration of the clay earths that were deposited in Orkney during the last Ice Age and were used in traditional craft and construction. From the large deposits of gold and red clay to the smaller amounts of exotic blues, greens, whites and blacks found in special locations.
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