'Extraordinary discovery' made at immense prehistoric site in Orkney as Time Team moves in
The find could change understanding of the mighty Ness of Brodgar
An “extraordinary discovery” has been made at one of Orkney’s most stunning Neolithic sites, which could completely rewrite the history and timeline of the site.
A radar scan of Ness of Brodgar on mainland Orkney discovered a previously unknown feature within the vast network of buildings, which includes a temple-style complex, that thrummed with activity around 5,000 years ago.
Here, feasting, trading and the celebration of important political and celestial events are believed to have taken place, with archaeologists piecing together the Ness’s fascinating past over 20 years of excavation.
Now the site, which was closed down following the last dig in 2024, is to re-open following analysis of ground penetrating radar images, which were captured during the making of an episode of Time Team.
Archaeologist Nick Card, from the University of Highlands and Islands at Orkney, who led the research project at Ness of Brodgar, said no further details of the find would be released until more was known.
But the discovery is "totally dissimilar to anything else we've uncovered", he said - and could perhaps date to outwith the Neolithic period.
"It's at a bit of the site where there doesn't seem to be any deep archaeology, so it's not like we're getting into another 20 years of excavations,” Mr Card told BBC Radio Scotland.
"The archaeology that will be uncovered will be quite different. Don't expect three-dimensional Neolithic buildings. Possibly it is not Neolithic, I think probably later, but it could be contemporary."
The discovery is thought to differ from the rest of the structures at the site, which is “defined by straight lines and rectangular forms, from the architecture down to the art”.
The Ness of Brodgar covers around six acres between the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness in the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site.
The earliest structures on the site were built around 3300 BC. The site is long thought to have closed down and been abandoned after around 1,000 years.
The new discovery could shift the dates the site was in use, and opens up the possibility the Ness of Brodgar was an important place beyond the Neolithic, when it dominated the landscape and likely attracted people from across Britain and Ireland.
Time Team will fund further exploration of the site, with a small trench to be opened to investigate the anomaly.
Mr Card likened the work to “keyhole surgery”.
He said: "We always said that when we put the trenches to bed, that was the end of the fieldwork. But last summer we conducted several types of geophysics and what that has showed up is something quite extraordinary.
"This was the first time this particular form of GPR had been used in Scotland. The preliminary results have just been amazing, but we still have to get more analysed.
"All of this then needs to be stitched together and we'll create 3D models of the site, which will give us a much better understanding of the development of the Ness."
The latest excavation will be open to the public for four weeks in July next year.
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