New Exhibition: The Ness & Its People

By theorkneynews on July 12, 2022 • ( 1 Comment )

Open from 11th of July is a new exhibition at the Maeshowe Visitor Centre revealing the finds and the story from the Ness of Brodgar excavation nearby in the Heart of Neolithic Orkney

Mural at The Maeshowe Visitor Centre of The Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage site

The exhibition offers visitors the chance to get up close to the Ness of Brodgar, its people, their belongings, and their lives, for the first time.

On display will be the mace heads, carved stones, pottery fragments, tools and skeuomorphs from the site.

Phil Hopkins, Monument Manager at Historic Environment Scotland (HES), said:

“The exhibition is a fantastic opportunity to see artefacts from the Ness of Brodgar which is within touching distance of Maeshowe Visitor Centre. This is very rare opportunity for visitors to see objects so close to where they have been found – there’s never usually a building located next to an active dig to create an exhibition like this.

“We’re encouraging new and returning visitors to come along and combine a visit of the Ness with the exhibition to see for themselves the mysterious objects being discovered by archaeologists and specialists involved in excavating the site.”

Entry to The Ness and Its People exhibition is free. It is on from Monday 11^th July until Friday 12^th August, 9.30am – 1pm and 2pm – 5pm at Maeshowe Visitor Centre.

However, due to limited capacity, visitors are advised to reserve a place online to guarantee entry to Maeshowe Chambered Cairn

Ness of Brodgar archaeological site in 2017

Anne Mitchell, Ness of Brodgar Project Development Officer from the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) Department of Archaeology said:

“We’re delighted to have this exhibition running over our 2022 dig season. This is the first year that we’ve been able to display finds to visitors of The Ness, which has been made possible due to a grant received from the Orkney Islands Council Culture Fund.

“The local support in bringing this exhibition to life has been incredible with Historic Environment Scotland generously hosting the exhibition at Maeshowe Visitor Centre, both Stromness and Orkney museums have designed the exhibition and Orkney Crystal has provided the display cases.”