Scott Pike, PhD, FSA Scot, Professor of Environmental Science and Archaeology, Willamette University

The last two-decades of excavations at the Ness of Brodgar in Orkney, Scotland have reshaped our understanding of Neolithic Britain. This roughly 2.5 hectares site sits at the center of a UNESCO World Heritage Site on a narrow spit of land that acts as a natural causeway between the Neolithic standing stone circles of the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness. Predating the more famous Stonehenge 550 miles to the south, the phenomenal preservation at the Ness of Brodgar is allowing archaeologists to investigate the social developments at this multiphased complex of monumental structures and how those developments influenced Neolithic society throughout the British Isles.

This presentation will place the Ness of Brodgar in its regional archaeological context. The talk will take a look at the site and structures uncovered to date, discuss current research efforts to identify activity areas within the structures, and provide goals for the final season of excavation.