My Biological father was from either Mainland Kirkwall, or Sanday, i like my seafood, farming dairys and veg, field hockey 🏑 , fencing 🤺, archery 🏹, running 🏃‍♀️, cycling 🚲 , and most of all the Nordic sea air, 🌊. 🇳🇴 ❤. Will need to visit

Visited the UK in 2014 for the World Science Fiction Convention in London. Prior to the con, my mum & I went all the way up to the isle of Westray to visit some relatives we'd only ever known by mail & email. One of the things we did was spend time & money hiring a cabbie to drive us all over to the fantastic historical sites. Never did get to the Ness of Brodgar, but we did visit the Ring of Brodgar, Skara Brae, and the Italian Chapel. As much as I'd want the site to remain open, I do like the idea of leaving it covered for future generations of archaeologists, because the kinds of archaeology we were doing just 100 years ago is miles & miles below the kind we're able to do now, thanks to our current technology. So imagine just how much more we'll be able to uncover in another century or two!

I remember walking this road in 1983 and strangely my eyes were drawn to this field without knowing why. Now I know it was ancestors!! It’s been exciting watching the excavation. I’d have loved to have visited in person and still will one day to see the finds.

I was planning to go with my son next year, I feel shocked

I'll bet that the Stonehenge alter stone was shipped on a large raft from here.

I would have loved to have seen it, but it's easier to get to continental Europe than to Orkney, from the North of England, so it didn't happen 😑

Bit gutted to know it's going to get the Catalhöyük treatment.

While it is fully understandable. It's a shame that building a proper cover structure for this is something that is deemed "too costly" by society. I can think of a few things that are less important than general access to our collective history.

I visited the three other sites on Orkney from New Zealand in 2014. As my late father was in the Royal Navy from 1932 to 1945, I was also able to see what remains of the naval base at Scapa Flow, and also visit the cathedral at Kirkwall. All in all a very enjoyable day finished off at the Italian Chapel on the way to Berwick to take the boat to John’O Groats. I have been following KZbin posts of the Neolithic sites in Europe, most of which are mainly in the British Isles, and have read many books on the subject to get an overall idea of how people lived in earlier eras.

In many countries they would just build a roof over the area. Why on earth would they not just cover it? Are they stupid?

It's not the first time they've said goodbye to it.

As a youngster we used to go and see the excavations of the neolithic site near Sollas on North Uist during the summer holidays, for various reasons mostly around the way records were kept by the person runnng the excavation, it's only recently that it was possible to read about the results of that 70's work. Archaeology and the way it is communicated has changed a lot since!

It’s almost unimaginable that Neolithic people, Stone Age people built such technically sophisticated structures. They hadn’t developed our technology but they were certainly as smart as we think we are today.

👋🥺

Such an amazing place. I was lucky enough to see this site open.

It's a pity they can't get lottery funding to enclose it with walkways above. Similar to Gobekli Tepe.

I've been three times to Orkney and every time I visited this site. The first time there were very few tourists. The last time there was a lot. It was after the Brexit vote and the archeologist who showed us the dig warned that they will have to stop if the EU funding will not be replaced by the British government. I am afraid this is one of the main reasons why the excavation was discontinued.

Visited the site in 2017, coming all the way from California. What a treat to behold! Wondering why it can’t be enclosed with some type of weather resistant plexiglass like other historical sites have done so people can continue to learn and enjoy it?

The team working on The Ness should be rightly be proud of what they have all achieved and contributed, particularly to the history and knowledge of the site. I applaud their efforts and dedication. Bravo!

Orkney is hauntingly beautiful with so much history.

😢🇳🇴 ❤that's My Viking heritage they're closing down! If that's the scots and uk 🇬🇧 governments plan? I'd say that orkneyjar 🇳🇴 should just go Norse-Orkadija, better off as neutral territory of Norway again.

We past this site before digging began, so if/when we return to lovely Orkney we will see the same view again. Following everything from home through this channel was very interesting, thank you so much!

You have dug for the knowledge. Covering to preserve for future. If it were a natural resource to be exploited. Would the cost still be considered prohibitive. Or endless new finacing as when looking for buried treasure island.

visited it in april last year. also from aus. fantastic trip

The lands of my ancient ancestors as I am celtic, dane and norsk on my father's side

Been to Orkney 3 times. Every time I realise there is still so much more to see. From Maes Howe and Gurness broch on the mainland, the Dwarfie Stane and Rackwick on Hoy, all the sites on Rousay and the northern Isles. Truly a remarkable place. Many thanks . Not back next year though - it's Harris and Lewis !

Gosh, As a South African, what a privilege to have visited this site (and others) on my Orkney trip in 2019.

Was there in 2015, stunned by the scale of the structures and the amount of effort going in. But it seems the amount of data collected has exceeded the ability of researchers to make sense of it all. It seems a good time to call pause on the data collection, and get down to a serious review of the meaning of it all. Once that's done, the parts that need re-excavation may be clearer, allowing more efficient archaeology. And best of all, those parts will be there for visitors in future centuries.

Glad that I was able to visit it last month, Orkney is a wonderful place ❤️

I hope the burial includes a plaque dating and explaining the reburial. It would be polite to future scholars.

Crowdfunding?…… Philanthropy? Tragic outcome…, so far….. Best to you all.

Oww, for a moment I thought the sealevel had already risen enough to start drowing it. o_o

I think it is a shame and ridiculous to cover it up..... the people that lived there didn't cover it up..... nature will do her job again.... let the people see it now! Thank you for sharing with us.

Such an amazing place.

Surely, there's some unspeakably wealthy benefactor out there who would pay to enclose and cover the site and have a visitor centre...

I had no idea that it would get covered up, and soon, too! I'm quite shocked, I assumed it would be like Skara Brae, open forever ... Maybe I should book that holiday for next month, though it has been on my 'To Do' list for 20 years

I’m heartbroken that it will be covered, but at least it will still be there for future generations and new technologies. I hope that some very clever cinematographer will create an incredible virtual walk through of Ness, for all to have something of the experience of seeing it. It would make a brilliant imax feature. Thanks to the army of workers who explored year after year.

Is it possible to purchase that t-shirt online? It's pretty cool! I've always loved my visits to my ancestral home in the Orkneys and hopefully will be back again soon

A wonderful project that will continue in another form. So pleased it will be preserved for future exploration, yet so sad I will not be able to visit when open. I still don’t understand why more is not taught, in schools, about Neolithic life. Maybe it will be in the future too. Thanks to every member over the 20 years of the project, for their hard work and dedication. ❤

an archeologist's gotta do what an archeologist has got to do. if it has to be covered to preserve it, so be it. I must say though, that's some fine looking stone those ancestors had to work with.

Hoped to visit Scotland next year: sad I won’t be able to see this 😢

What the hell is that doing in a church?

Beautiful film; well done all involved in the Ness of Brodgar. I was fortunate enough to visit in 2021 and chat to a few of the archaeologists. All the best for the post-excavation phase and writing up those papers and books!

I too am Australian, and i can only imagine the feelings you must be experiencing as this dig closes down. It must be like saying goodbye to a family member. So i congratulate you and the team for the monumental achievement you’ve accomplished on this great Monument! 👍🏼👍🏼

Visiting the Ness dig in 2014 was one of the highlights of my life. I hope that in 20-30 years the work can continue.

It's such a shame it has to all be hidden away again but fully understandable. There's clearly been an immense amount of hard work gone into this over the years and I look forward to seeing more and more results from the findings released in the future. It's a fascinating story which needs telling and explaining. I'm only sad that I never got to do one of the tours, but well done to all the archaeologists, professional and amateur who've advanced our knowledge of this neolithic period.

I'm Australian but have Orcadian ancestors, so this is fascinating 😊

My ancestor Thomas Brown was a Stromness lad and mariner who arrived in Australia around the late 1840-early 1850s. It's fascinating to see the village where he grew up 😊

I loved growing up in orkney with my family and friends and I enjoyed playing in playroom in orkney and grateful I grow up in orkney with my family and friends and I hopefully people I still lived in orkney watching this video

I loved growing up in orkney with my family and friends I went to school in Kirkwall was my friends