Ness of Brodgar Program

The Ness of Brodgar is a large Neolithic complex (3200 B.C.) that predates Stonehenge and may include up to one hundred buildings in a walled enclosure. The site lies at the center of one of the richest Neolithic monument complexes in all of Europe and is part of the Heart of the Neolithic Orkney UNESCO World Heritage Site. The excavation site lies at the center of Mainland Orkney, near the Ring of Brodgar, Stones of Stenness, Maew Howe, the Comet Stone, the Watch Stone, the Barnhouse Stone, and the Neolithic Barnhouse settlement. The Ness itself was considered to be a natural linear ridge separating two inland lakes, the Lock of Stenness and the Loch of Harray, until a geophysical survey in 2002 revealed a dense set of anomalies suggesting a rich concentration of monumental structures covering an area of 2.5 hectares.