Stones of Stenness, Graham Ritchie's Excavation



Stones of Stenness, 

Graham Ritchie's Excavation 




At the Stones of Stenness, Graham Ritchie directed an excavation that found that this circle of stones consisted of twelve in number, of which he explored those stone positions where no standing stone was present. Expressing some reservations about the presence and/or absence of some of the monoliths from the circle of stones, he writes that, “Stone-hole 9 was about 1-6 m by 1-6 m (though the W side was not excavated as it was covered by a balk) and about 0-75 m in depth. The fill was re-deposited till with only a few small slabs and no sign of either stone stump or chocking stones. If there had been an upright, it and Its supporting stones had been very systematically removed. There is likewise no good evidence for stone no. 12, for, although a sharp-sided hollow existed in the surface of the till, it is very slight compared with the other stone-holes and, had the pointed base of an upright been crammed Into the natural at this point, the stone must have been carefully supported by surface stones. This sector of the site has been most severely denuded by ploughing, and while this could not explain the greater destruction of stone-hole no. 12 compared to nos 1 or 9, it might help to explain the absence of any surface chocking stones at this point.”



The observation regarding stone-hole 12, which was hardly more than a stake hole, might lead to the interpretation that the stone circle itself may have remained unfinished. This might mean that the builders only managed to erect ten, or eleven, out of the twelve intended standing stones. It might also mean that the reason that the Stones are unfinished is because people could see that high winter tides were beginning to erode the passage between Caithness and Orkney. Seeing this, the people abandoned their annual gatherings at Brodgar.

Further, discussing the effort required in cutting the ditch of the circle Ritchie observes that, “The visible architectural feat of the raising and positioning of the monoliths is fully matched by the excavation of the rock-cut ditch. The physical effort required for the entire operation of the construction of the Henge has been evaluated as being some 50,000 man-hours. The original depth and width of the Stenness ditch must have given the stones an impression of greater height and aloofness. The ditch of the adjacent Henge monument of the Ring of Brodgar, as revealed by excavation, is an even greater engineering feat; it measures no less than 10 m in width and 3-4 m in depth from the outside surface, and was, like that at Stenness, cut into solid bed-rock. Renfrew, using data on traditional quarrying methods in Orkney, suggests that the effort required (to dig the Brodgar ditch) might indicate a figure of 80,000 man-hours. Clearly such estimates can give no more than a tantalising impression of the complex organisation of Neolithic society in Orkney”.(Ritchie) 

If all that the Neolithic people had done was dig ditches then we might decide that there were just about enough habitations in Orkney to supply the workforce for these projects. In fact though, these were almost the least of the Neolithic people's achievements. 


*

Index


The rich history of archaeology on Orkney provides source material for the following observations.


"Neolithic Migrants to Orkney" The story of the First, Founding Immigrants to Orkney 

"A Bizarre Idea" What's the Story, then?

"Walkable land in the North Sea" describes evidence that walkable land was present between Norfolk and Holland at a time when prehistoric people were occupying northern Europe. 

"Archaeology in the North Sea" looks at the elusive evidence that people could have walked from Caithness to South Ronaldsay. 

"3000BC" gives detailed evidence of tsunami events on the Norwegian Coast.

 "A Brief Guide to the Last Glaciation" How did the North Sea develop?

"Mainland Settlements" discusses and dates the early settlements across mainland Orkney.

"Barnhouse" describes this "Neolithic Village" a substantial group of Neolithic structures on the shore of Harray Loch. 

"Barnhouse Sweat Lodge" describes Structure 8, the Sweat Lodge at Barnhouse.

"Modern Sweat Lodge Practices" describes present day Sweat Lodge ceremonies.

"The Stones of Stenness" describes anomalies in the settings of the stones that formed the stone circle.

"The Ring of Brodgar" discusses just how many stones are there, or are not there, at the Ring of Brodgar. 

 "A Custom Among the Lower Class of People" , about 18th century Orkney people and the Stones at Brodgar. 

"Maeshowe, a Wonder of the Neolithic World" is the personal account of the excavation of the Maeshowe Cairn by the man who excavated it. I include it because it is so personal, not because it adds anything to our understanding. 

"Cairns of Orkney" is the commentary of several antiquarian archaeologists writing in previous centuries as they excavated Cairns in England, Scotland, and Orkney. Although these cairns may not have been excavated to a high standard, the commentary provided in these reports is, in my view, very personal, and highly approachable. 

"Cairns and the People in them" examines the bones of the people who were laid in cairns, and tells their stories.

"The Westrays" describes the Knap of Howar settlement, and the desolation of the islands that were found by the people of the Links of Noltland when they settled there at the end of the 3rd millennium BC. 

"Skara Brae, RCAHMS" is the official description of the Neolithic "Village"

"Skara Brae, Excavation", is an account of the excavation of Hut 7 in 1927. This is an interesting personal account of the Gordon Childe's Excavation by J Wilson Paterson.

"Dating Skara Brae" gives detailed dating evidence for Skara Brae 

"The Ness of Brodgar Excavation" and account of the excavation , before 2020, by Nick Card. 

"Dating the Ness of Brodgar" gives Dating evidence for the Ness of Brodgar 

"The Ferriby Boats" The first seafaring vessels? 

"The Orkney Vole" discusses the evidence that the Orkney Vole migrated from Europe to Orkney without setting foot on mainland Britain. 

Bere Barley, a Neolithic grain derivations of Bere Barley. 

"Concluding" , some simple remarks in conclusion.

"Finally" closing remarks.

Sources

All views and opinions expressed are my own, but it remains a work-in-progress for which positive criticism and comment is welcomed.


Jeffery Nicholls 


South Ronaldsay 


Orkney 


Jiffynorm@yahoo.co.uk 

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