The Neolithic Heart of Orkney….
by Bernie Bell - 07:39 on 15 August 2022
The dig at the Ness of Brodgar…. https://www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/ finishes on Friday….
NB Please note that the last tours of the year will take place on Wednesday at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm.
We’re Watching…………..
They’re closing down the Ness again
It’s easier now, than then
We did it all with soil and midden
This stuff’s beyond our ken.
*******************
They’re closing down the Ness again
They do it every year
We thought we’d done it for all time
Or something very near.
****************
They’re closing down the Ness again
They come from far and near
They’re not that different from us
That much is very clear.
**********************
They’re closing down the Ness again
Strange folk, strange clothes, strange speech
And yet what was once known to us
Is not beyond their reach
******************
They’re closing down the Ness again
We watch them working hard
The man in charge is one of us
A knowing–man named Card
********************
They’ve sealed it off
That is the end
At least for one more year.
We watch, we wait, we hope, we know
Their time to learn, is near.
BB
Sometimes today's People of the Ness watch from the skies.....
https://www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/dig-diary-photography-planning-and-racing-against-time/
The exhibition about the Ness at the Maes Howe Vistor Centre, Stenness is also closing on Friday. But...but...but...there really should be a permanent Interpretive Centre for the Ness and the Neolithic Heart of Orkney - preferabley in the Neolithic Heart of Orkney.
I've written of this before in this piece....
https://theorkneynews.scot/2018/10/25/the-old-kirks-of-orkney-part-3-bits-pieces/ …and I will now repeat myself…..
“And that approach to what to do with a fine old church which is no longer a church – no longer consecrated ground – brings me back to the West Mainland, to Stenness Church where the kirkyard is still used for burials, but the church itself was recently sold and is now in private ownership. I had hoped that Historic Environment Scotland might buy it, do some work on it, and open it as an Interpretive Centre for the Neolithic Heart of Orkney – the whole Neolithic Heart of Orkney, for which it is perfectly positioned – possibly with walks going to Maes Howe, Barnhouse Neolithic ’village’, and on to Brodgar, both Ness and Ring of…..
An Interpretive Centre for the whole of this ceremonial/sacred/pilgrimage site, is needed. Not just wanted, but needed – and this seemed to me to be a perfect opportunity to develop such a Centre in just the right place. It looks like that isn’t going to happen, unless the owners have ideas of their own that we don’t know about? It could be a privately run Interpretive Centre something like the museum/shop at the Tomb of the Eagles. Bernie Bell: Orkney Walks (with stories) – The Eagle Cairn (NB – The Tomb of the Eagles is now closed to the public). If the Stenness church became a privately owned Interpretive Centre they couldn’t have original artefacts, but they could have good copies. Hmmmm – I wonder..…I hope so!
I’ve been told that this church stands on the site of at least five churches – a place of worship dating far back in time - and in the Neolithic Heart of Orkney - I wonder about that, too.”
*******
Something a bit different…. https://www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/link-sounds-of-the-ness-by-suzy-angus/
**************************************************************
Here's one I made earlier....https://theorkneynews.scot/2018/02/26/more-mathematical-neolithic-musings/
Add your comment
