Ramblin’ On About The Ness……Of The Earth – Again…...?.......
by Bernie Bell - 08:24 on 14 July 2024
Ramblin’ On About The Ness…..
Mike and I were discussing what will happen after the dig at the Ness of Brodgar finishes this year - what will Nick & Co. do? There is a stunning amount of post-excavation work to be done in the lab. and each of the People of the Ness will still have a role to play in bringing the information together and trying to make sense of it all!
I was thinking - the folk who are used to being, and who like to be, out-doors, on an active dig, might find it hard to be shut up indoors. Mike pointed out that …one aspect of bringing together the info. about The Ness will be that that info. will then be there, available, in an accessible form, and if other sites are found, or are continuing to be excavated - there might be useful comparisons to be made, and the lab-bound might get out on a dig again.
Then, this was in The Ness dig diary…
https://www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/2024-day-14/
…..comparison with a dig at the Braes of Ha’Breck. Connections can be made, when the information is collated and accessible.
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Of The Earth – Again…
In m’blog, I mentioned this exhibition…
https://archaeologyorkney.com/2024/06/21/earthbound-orkney/
..and wrote…
“I very, very much want to see this exhibition – but I’ll wait until it’s in the ‘Ship O’ Fools’ Gallery, Kirkwall 5th – 12th September – likely to not be as crowded as the Maes Howe Visitor Centre!
The images in this piece remind me of the cross-sections of deposits found at the Ness of Brodgar…
https://theorkneynews.scot/2018/12/11/jeanne-jim-confusabear-in-a-good-way/ “
Further explanation of Spladongas….
https://theorkneynews.scot/2019/07/29/jo-mckenzies-layers-of-colour/
I also wrote of another exhibition …
“Marianne responded with news of an exhibition which Elisabeth is holding – ‘From Jewellery to Contextual Art’ at the Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus Hanau….
https://www.goldschmiedehaus.com/en/calendar-events
….where, as Marianne describes it, Elisabeth…
“…..shows inter alia a work called „Homage to the Earth“: different earths next to each other, each one adorned with a delicate hoop of pure high-carat gold. And there are other works of her with reference to Orkney and other neolithic places.”
Elisabeth kindly sent us a catalogue, and pointed us in the direction of two examples of work inspired by her Residency at the Ness. I’ll quote her descriptions of the pieces, as that will explain why I’m writing of them here…
Page 39, image entitled ….. ‘Signs created by erosion; photograph, 2017’
“I followed the traces in the natural environment, perceived them as signs, emphasised their symbolic nature with simple means, or, playfully converted given material into ever-changing signs.”
Page 45, image entitled…’Object, 2023,detail’
“The signs contained in the stone are visible in the water. Yet, they fade when they dry on land. I patiently and carefully cut and polished one of the stones, and thus revived these signs and lent them permanence.”
There, that’s all three of them together – presenting slices of earth which tell stories of earth.
More of which...here...
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?
Sea-life stranding
There’s something amiss
In the oceans.
BB July ‘24
There’s something amiss in the oceans…
http://www.spanglefish.com/berniesblog/blog.asp?blogid=16608
Here’s an exchange I had with someone..
Me…
“I am no kind of scientist - this is just off the top of my head - could it be that their natural sonar is being messed up by all the 'signals' and general noises that are now in the sea? Maybe.
Or – could it be that the water is either warmer or cooler than it should be where they are, and that confuses them? That was one of the ideas put forward when the Atlantic Saurey stranded themselves.”
JM….
“As always in the natural world, it will be multi-factorial. Cetaceans are not so brittle that they fall over at every challenge. Food stress, driven by climate change (water temp, pH etc), exacerbated by oceanic noise, panic behaviour, environmentally persistent neurotoxins bioaccumulating up the food chain, could all be part of it. You'd have a hell of a job trying to evidence any one of those without being able to assess the in-combination effects - I mean, for all we know, geomagnetic disturbances or even solar activity could play a role, however small.”
Me….
“As you say, it doesn't have to be an 'either-or' situation - possibly a combination of the general changes in the world today. Or...an un-known. To not have an answer is the wonder of it – but it would be better if we could find an answer, to prevent it happening, as it is becoming more frequent, and could indicate a wider imbalance. Looking at multiple possibilities could help with that. An open mind is a wonderful, and powerful, thing.”
It’s possible that we’ll never know why – but strandings are becoming more frequent. Someone, somewhere will be researching it – but meanwhile – there is something amiss in the oceans.
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