Another "Human" Figurine Found at Orkney Dig

The article is not the clearest!  But if I were you, I'd be thinking this figurine looks remarkably like a BIRD GODDESS ...

28 August 2012 Last updated at 06:43 ET

Third 5,000-year-old figurine found at Orkney dig

A third 5,000-year-old hand-carved figurine has been discovered during excavations on Orkney.

 

Archaeologists had previously unearthed two ancient figurines in 2009 and 2010 at the dig at Links of Noltland in Westray.

All three will go on display at the Westray Heritage Centre.

Alasdair McVicar, chair of the Westray Heritage Trust, said: "The discovery of these figurines has really put Westray and the heritage centre on the map."

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: "There was understandable excitement when the first figurine, believed to be the earliest artistic representation of the human form ever found in the UK, was found in 2009.

"To now be able to say that two more examples have been uncovered is unprecedented."

Orkney Isles Complex Older Than Stonehenge

Is this an effigy of a "boy?"  Or a game piece?  People were playing board games in 3200 BCE...

From The National Geographic News Online

Stonehenge Precursor Found? Island Complex Predates Famous Site
Scottish site also home to northern Europe's oldest painted walls.

James Owen

for National Geographic News

Published January 27, 2012

On an island off Britain's northern tip, new discoveries suggest a huge Stone Age ritual complex is older than Stonehenge.

But age is only the half of it. Researchers say the site may have in fact been the original model for Stonehenge and other later, better-known British complexes to the south.

First discovered in 2002, the waterside site—called the Ness of Brodgar ("Brodgar promontory")—lies on Mainland, the largest of Scotland's Orkney Islands (map).

According to recent radiocarbon dating of burned-wood remains, the Ness was first occupied around 3200 B.C. and went on to include up to a hundred buildings within a monumental walled enclosure.
By contrast, the earliest earthworks at Stonehenge date to about 3000 B.C. And it would be roughly another 500 years before the first of the famous stones were set on Salisbury Plain. (Interactive time line: "Stages of Stonehenge.")

In addition, ritual gatherings at the Ness of Brodgar may have foreshadowed feasts Stonehenge and similar sites such as Avebury.

"Orkney is one of the keys to understanding the development of Neolithic religion," said site director Nick Card of the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology.

Massive Final Feast

The idea of Orkney as a font of Stone Age culture isn't completely new.

It's been suspected, for example, that so-called grooved-ware pottery, which became dominant in Neolithic Britain, originated in Orkney and spread south. According to Card, it now appears that the crockery style may have ridden a cultural wave that included notions of stone circles and henges—ritual grounds enclosed by low earthwork "walls".

Despite its apparent influence, the Ness wouldn't last in this incarnation forever.

The dating of animal bones found around the finely crafted temple indicates that a huge feast ceremony was held in about 2300 B.C., after which the temple was effectively "decommissioned," Card said.

"We are perhaps looking at the remains [almost exclusively shin bones] of 600 individual cattle, which in anybody's book is a massive feast."

The Height of Stone Age Decor

The new date is based on excavations at the Ness of Brodgar in 2011, when researchers made a slew of discoveries inside the complex's temple, which was first unearthed in 2008.

The 82-foot-long (25-meter-long) building, which has 16-foot-thick (5-meter-thick) outer walls, contains an "inner sanctum," where Card's team found stone shelved furniture, or "dressers," placed against each wall.

"We have four of these stone dressers, which are almost at the cardinal points of the compass," Card said. "They probably functioned like an altar."

Made of red and yellow sandstone, the Stone Age furniture was "beautifully finished" and represented "the very top end of the market" for their time, the archaeologist noted.

The 2011 excavation also found further examples of mysterious geometric stone carvings that decorate the complex as well as evidence for the production of paints. Traces of orange, red and yellow paintwork were first detected on walls in 2010.

"There's a small chamber where there was evidence of different colors of ochre and little grinding stones with little hollows in them, where the pigment had obviously been ground up," Card said.
"I think we've always envisaged that Neolithic man would have used color, maybe as a makeup or for dying clothes, but this is the oldest evidence in northern Europe of the use of color on the walls of buildings," he said.

Other major finds from 2011 include an extremely rare, crudely wrought Neolithic human figure fashioned from clay.

"It's got a head with two eyes and a body and has been nicknamed the Brodgar Boy," Card said. "It was in the rubble of one of the smaller structures."

World Heritage Site

Bounded by a 13-foot-thick (4-meter-thick) stone wall, the Ness of Brodgar is located between two other important monuments, the Ring of Brodgar and the Standing Stones of Stenness—all part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney UN World Heritage site.

Archaeologist Mark Edmonds thinks that thousands of years ago, the Ness was a place where Orkney's Neolithic farming communities gathered in large numbers for seasonal rituals and to commemorate the dead—a pattern likely later repeated farther south.

"What begins to happen at these sites in the later part of the Neolithic does seem to reflect the influence of ideas that are first brought into focus in Orkney," said Edmonds, of the University of York, who wasn't part of the 2011 excavation.

The Ness, Stonehenge (pictures), Avebury, and so on "are clearly ceremonial centers that bring lots of people together on a scale that you just wouldn't see at any other time and place" in late Stone Age Britain, the archaeologist added.

The complexes also all appear to share a common layout, roughly speaking.

"We get the impression that they not only have places where the dead are congregated and where the ceremonial events take place, but there are also places where the living congregate," he said.

The Ness of Brodgar "has the potential to transform our understanding of the later Neolithic in Britain," Edmonds added.

"I think it will help us to understand the nature of belief systems at the time," he said. "It will give us a far better insight into the social and political context in which these ceremonies and rituals took place."

Site director Card agreed, and pointed out that less than 10 percent of the Ness complex has been excavated.

"We're still really just scratching the surface," he said.

Orkney Dig Reveals 'Amazing Neolithic Cathedral'

From the Times Online: August 14, 2009 'Neolithic cathedral built to amaze’ unearthed in Orkney dig Lindsay McIntosh A huge Neolithic cathedral, unlike anything else which can be seen in Britain, has been found in Orkney. Archaeologists said that the building would have dwarfed the island’s landmarks from the Stone Age — the Ring of Brodgar and the Standing Stones of Stenness. Nick Card, who is leading the dig at the Ness of Brodgar, said that the cathedral, which would have served the whole of the north of Scotland, would have been constructed to “amaze” and “create a sense of awe” among those who saw it. It is about 65ft in length and width and would have dominated the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness which stand on either side. These important sites, dating back about 5,000 years, might have actually been peripheral features of Orkney’s Stone Age landscape. Mr Card said: “In effect it is a Neolithic cathedral for the whole of the north of Scotland.” The shape and size of the building are clearly visible today, with the walls still standing to a height of more then 3ft — although they would have been far taller when built. They are 16ft thick and surround a cross-shaped inner sanctum in which the 40-strong excavation team has found examples of art and furniture made from stone. The cathedral was surrounded by a paved outer passage which the archaeologists believe could have formed a labyrinth that would have led worshippers through darkness to the chamber at the heart of the building. The team has also discovered that a standing stone which is split by a hole shaped like an hourglass was incorporated into the structure, something never seen before in buildings from the period. “A building of this scale and complexity was here to amaze, to create a sense of awe in the people who saw this place,” Mr Card said. “The perfection of the stonework is beautiful to look at. This is architecture on a monumental scale and the result is the largest structure of its kind anywhere in the north of Britain. “Today it is still so impressive and when you look down on it from above it is almost jaw-dropping. It is a real privilege to work here and we feel that this was a very special place.” Colin Richards, reader in archaeology at Manchester University and a leading expert on the period, said that the building would have stood at the heart of Neolithic Orkney. “A structure of this nature would have been renowned right across the north of Scotland — and is unprecedented anywhere in Britain,” he said. The dig, which has been operating since 2003, involves archaeologists from Orkney College and from Aberdeen, Glasgow and Cardiff universities. Volunteers have also travelled from the United States, Italy, Sweden and Ireland to take part. Last summer the team established that there was a very large building on the site, but it is only now that the true scale of the cathedral has been unearthed. The Ness of Brodgar site, which covers 2.5 hectares, has been described as potentially as important as the Skara Brae village, the world heritage site on the islands.

The Ring of Brodgar in Orkney

From News.scotsman.com Digging up the past at ancient stone circle Published Date: 02 July 2008 By John Ross WORK will start next week to unearth the secrets of one of Europe's most important prehistoric sites. The Ring of Brodgar in Orkney, the third-largest stone circle in the British Isles and thought to date back to 3000-2000BC, is regarded by archaeologists as an outstanding example of Neolithic settlement and has become a popular tourist attraction in the islands. It is believed it was part of a massive ritual complex but little is known about the monument, including its exact age or purpose. It is hoped part of the mystery will be explained during a month-long programme of investigations by a 15-strong team of archaeologists and scientists from Orkney College, Stirling and Manchester universities and the Scottish Universities Environment Reactor Centre. The project will involve the re-excavation and extension of trenches dug in 1973. Geophysical surveys will be undertaken to investigate the location of standing stones and other features within the henge monument. Dr Jane Downes, of Orkney College's archaeology department, one of the project directors, said: "Because so little is known about the Ring of Brodgar, a series of assumptions have taken the place of archaeological data. The interpretation of what is arguably the most spectacular stone circle in Scotland is therefore incomplete and unclear. "The advanced techniques now at our disposal mean that this time our investigations should establish when the Ring of Brodgar was built and help us learn a great deal more about it."

Older than the pyramids, buried for centuries – found by an Orkney plumber

Published Date: 17 March 2008 Source: The Scotsman Location: Scotland By Tristan Stewart-Robertson A RARE piece of Neolithic art has been discovered on a beach in Orkney. The 6,000-year-old relic, thought to be a fragment from a larger piece, was left exposed by storms which swept across the country last week. Local plumber David Barnes, who found the stone on the beach in Sandwick Bay, South Ronaldsay, said circular markings had shown up in the late-afternoon winter sun, drawing his attention to the piece. Archeologists last night heralded the discovery as a "once-in- 50-years event". But they warned that a search for other fragments in the area would be hampered by a lack of funds. "At first, I just thought it was an interesting pattern from the erosion," said Mr Barnes, 44. "Then I knew it was fairly rare. It's a miracle I spotted it." He said he realised the find could be significant after he read more about the local history of the area. Archaeologists compared the discovery to the Westray Stone, a Neolithic carved stone discovered in 1981 during routine quarrying work. It has been in Orkney Museum for more than 25 years but is due to be returned to the area this week and exhibited in the new Westray Heritage Centre in Pierowall. The Westray Stone was once part of a Neolithic chambered cairn which is thought to have been destroyed in prehistory. A second part, and two smaller carved pieces, were found the following spring in a dig led by Niall Sharples, of the University of Cardiff. Mrs Julie Gibson, Orkney county archaeologist, said the latest discovery must be the result of erosion from recent storms, as the carved patterns would not have successfully survived so many thousands of years' exposure on soft sandstone. She said: "This piece is really a once-in-50-years discovery. I was very pleased to find out David really had such a piece of Neolithic art. It's not something that happens every day." Natural stones always have patterns in them and quite often people mistake patterns for art. It was surprising David was able to see this on the beach. "The stone is perhaps from a chambered tomb and could be as old as 5,000 or 6,000 years, and would have possibly been used as a ceremonial, sacred object. This is art made in the same style as art from the Newgrange stone tomb in Ireland or tombs in Brittany. It's part of this Neolithic world linked by the Irish Sea." The world heritage site at Newgrange in County Meath is estimated to be 600 years older than the Giza pyramids in Egypt. The concentric circles in the latest find indicated "something special", said Mrs Gibson. She added that the Sandwick Bay beach now warranted more investigation but she feared that would be constrained by a lack of resources. She said: "The budget for 'rescue' archaeology has been flat-lined since Margaret Thatcher's time, and it's gone down since then by £200,000 a year, down to £1.5 million in Scotland each year for all rescue archaeology. We would like to do more, but the chances are pretty slim." The stone will now be passed to Orkney Museum and brought to the attention of the Queen and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer to determine if it is a treasure trove or not. Ancient objects without an owner are automatically property of the Crown. But Mrs Gibson added: "An object like this becomes the property of everyone." TREASURES FIND THEIR WAY TO THE CROWN ALL historical finds – whether made by chance, fieldwalking, metal detector or archaeological excavation – are subject to the laws of Treasure Trove in Scotland. The objects become the property of the Crown and may be claimed as treasure trove, and must be reported so they can be assessed. The Queen and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer is the Crown Office employee responsible for claiming objects for the Crown under the law of Treasure Trove. The role of the QLTR also includes deciding on the allocation of objects to museums and the payment of rewards to finders. The Crown Office, on behalf of the Scottish Government, is given the first chance to claim the object for the overall benefit of the nation. Small museums, including Orkney Museum, can also bid for the found objects to stay in the area where they were found. Finds not claimed by the Crown are returned to the finder along with an individually numbered certificate stating that the Crown is not exercising its right to claim. The full article contains 767 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper. Last Updated: 17 March 2008 12:04 AM