By Bernie Bell

At the end of what was thought to be the last season of digging at the Ness of Brodgar, the People of the Ness placed their hand-prints onto pieces of fabric which were sown together and made into a display which was shown with a film of the ‘last’ season’s dig,  made by Lucy Carr McClave.

Hardly a seat left in the theatre for Ness film premiere in Kirkwall

They were also displayed at the Time Team premiere at the start of July

Hundreds turn out for world premiere of Time Team Ness special

I couldn’t go to see either of the films but hoped that the hand-prints would be shown again, somewhere.

I’ve previously written about the significance of hand-prints

Hands

Poetry Corner: The Swandro Stone

was delighted to hear that the Ness prints were to be displayed at the King Street Halls as part of the Orkney Archaeology Festival, and went along to see.

The over-all impression is striking – all those hands – thinking of what hands can do – the individuality of hands and what they can express

I was tempted to focus on the hand-prints of people that I know but realised that that isn’t the point  – the display is of the hands of all who contributed in every way – whether I know them or not is irrelevant. 

So I stood back and took pictures of the hands which most caught my attention

I wondered if a palm-reader could make something of what was there?

I did, however, decide to specifically include the palm-print of Site Director Nick Card as it’s my view that the dig could have been a very different matter in less sympathetic hands

It occurred to me that, for the People of the Ness, it’s probably wonderfully evocative of their time there – the folk they worked in particular trenches with – the folk they learnt their skills from.  Friendships forged.

On the wall of my den are hand-prints made by Mike which were proto-types for a card he made for me

Which contains a poem

Lifeline

A hand to make
A hand to heal
A hand to hold
This is my print
A life is written here
Hold on
I’m here

McB April 2022

Our hands can tell a lot about us – at any time.

I felt that a Public Drop-in Event was the right place to display the hand-prints as in my view archaeology is, basically, about people.

And so, on to a walk round the main event…..to follow in Part Two