Ness of Brodgar
With Ness of Brodgar, a 2.5 -hectare archaeological site is called on the Scottish Orkney Islands, where BC has developed one of the largest ceremonial sites in the British Isles before 3200. On the main island of Mainland is between the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness dug in the so-called heart of Neolithic Orkney, a World Heritage Site between the Loch of Harray and the Loch of Stenness since 2003. However, the latter lake did not exist during the Neolithic, but only emerged around 1500 BC Prospector is Nick Card, involved are employees of Orkney College and the Universities of Aberdeen, Cardiff and Glasgow.
The site was used between about 3200 and 2300 BC and has a temple-like monumental next two wall rings and houses on. Among them is a stone discovered in 2007, 100 m long and up to 4 m thick wall, which is referred to as the Great Wall of Brodgar. It extends over the entire peninsula and the area of the ring could have separated from the outside world. A smaller wall, which was called the Lesser Wall of Brodgar, also could be detected.
The temple-like structure, which was discovered in 2008 ( Structure 10), has 5 m thick walls, which are preserved to a height of 1 m. The building is 25 m long and 20 m wide. In the wall of a so-called Standing Stone has been integrated with a hole. Around the building, there were remains of a pavement, the interior is designed in a cross shape, which may be explained with different usage areas. 2600 BC, the structures 1, 8 and 12 were carefully dismantled and there was in its place structure 10, the monumental temple, whose catchment area of the excavators at least with the Orkney Islands, if not specify beyond. The monumental building was surrounded by another wall, which could only be crossed by a narrow, marked by a Standing Stone passage. On this wall, a massive roof could have been outsourced, so you have to imagine a pyramid-like construction. The area between the core structure and the outer wall was paved. The interior, probably a kind of sanctuary, only measured 6 by 6 m. The building was abandoned around 2300 BC. Apparently, this moment was celebrated with a big party, for there were the remains of about 600 cattle, which certainly served to hosting thousands of visitors. It is striking that a dead deer was left behind when the inhabitants left the place for good. Other finds of stags and deer suggest that there might be a threshold ritual. In any case, found himself at the center excluding Neolithic ceramics ( Grooved Ware), but no Bronze Age pottery ( Beaker pottery ).
Similar to Skara Brae were found knives, called Skaill - knives, which were named after the local Skaill Bay. In July 2010, there was a red, orange and yellow painted stone, which house paintings could be detected for the first time.
Unusually large is the number of stone arrangements, such as by incising in cross shape. Found in one structure alone, more than 60 of them. In structure 10 in every stone was processed, there is also found the remains of various pigments. It could have been a kind of color and painting workshop, for there were in addition to pigments from iron ore also those from galena or galena for white as well as stones with round depressions that served well to mixing.
2011 was found in Structure 14, a secular building, a simple machined clay figurine in two parts. This Brodgar Boy ( Brodgar Boy) called Fund has a head, a simple body and two eyes. The smaller part is only 3 inches tall and was probably part of a larger object