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Ness of Brodgar is an archaeological site covering between the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness in the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site near Loch of Harray, Orkney, in Scotland. Excavations at the site began in 2003. The site has provided evidence of housing, decorated stone slabs, a massive stone wall with foundations, and a large building described as a Neolithic "cathedral"〔Ross, John and Hartley, David (14 August 2009) (" 'Cathedral' as old as Stonehenge unearthed." ) Edinburgh. ''The Scotsman''. Retrieved 16 August 2009.〕 or "palace". The site may have been occupied from as early as 3500 BC to the close of the Neolithic period more than a millennium and a half later.〔〔Towrie, Sigurd (16 August 2007) ("Stone wall hints at Neolithic spiritual barrier " ) Orkneyjar. Retrieved 17 September 2008.〕 According to project manager Nick Card, the discoveries are unparalleled in British prehistory, the complexity of finds is changing the "whole vision of what the landscape was 5,000 years ago" and that "it’s of a scale that almost relates to the classical period in the Mediterranean with walled enclosure and walled precincts".〔 Additionally, according to archaeologists in general, the site could be more important than Stonehenge. ==Finds== Excavations have revealed several buildings, both ritual and domestic and the works suggest there are likely to be more in the vicinity. Pottery, cremated animal bones, stone tools, and polished stone mace heads have also been discovered.〔("Ness of Brodgar, Stenness, Mainland, Orkney" ) UHI: Orkney College. Retrieved 30 August 2008.〕〔("Orkney Archaeology News" ) Orkneyjar. Retrieved 30 August 2008.〕 Some of the stone slabs are decorated with geometrical lozenges typical of other Neolithic sites.〔 There are the remains of a large stone wall (the "Great Wall of Brodgar") that may have been long and or more wide. It appears to traverse the entire peninsula the site is on and may have been a symbolic barrier between the ritual landscape of the Ring and the mundane world around it.〔〔Ross, John (14 August 2007) "Experts uncover Orkney's new Skara Brae and the great wall that separated living from dead". Edinburgh. ''The Scotsman''. Retrieved 16 August 2009.〕 The temple-like structure, which was discovered in 2008, has walls thick and the shape and size of the building are visible, with the walls still standing to a height of more . The structure is long and wide and a standing stone with a hole shaped like an hourglass was incorporated into the walls. There is a cross-shaped inner sanctum and the building was surrounded by a paved outer passage. The archaeological team believe it is the largest structure of its kind anywhere in the north of Britain and that it would have dominated the ritual landscape of the peninsula. Recent finds include Skaill knives〔A flaked stone with a sharp edge used for cutting. This neolithic tool is named after Skaill Bay, the location of World Heritage Site Skara Brae in Orkney. See ("Skaill knife" ) (pdf) Historic Scotland. Retrieved 21 March 2007.〕 and hammer stones and another, perhaps even bigger wall. The dig involves archaeologists from Orkney College and from the universities of Aberdeen, Cardiff and Glasgow.〔〔("Neolithic ‘temple’ revealed at site on Orkney" ) Glasgow. ''The Herald''. Retrieved 16 August 2009.〕〔Macintosh, Lindsay (14 August 2009) (" 'Neolithic cathedral built to amaze’ unearthed in Orkney dig" ) London. ''The Times''. Retrieved 16 August 2009.〕〔("The Ness of Brodgar Excavations". ) (14 August 2009) Orkneyjar. Retrieved 16 August 2009.〕 In July 2010, a remarkable rock coloured red, orange, and yellow was unearthed. This is the first discovery in Britain of evidence that Neolithic peoples used paint to decorate their buildings and is similarly coloured to the natural shades of sandstone used in the construction of the inner sanctum.〔"Rock shows Stone Age Scots keen decorators" (28 July 2010) Glasgow: ''The Herald''.〕 It is thought that the primitive paint could have been made from iron ore, mixed with animal fat, milk or eggs. Only a week later a stone with a zigzag chevron pattern painted with a red pigment was discovered nearby.〔"Decorated Neolithic stonework found on Orkney". (4.8.10) Glasgow: ''The Herald''.〕 A baked clay artefact known as the "Brodgar Boy", and thought to be a figurine with a head, body, and two eyes, was also unearthed in the rubble of one structure in 2011. It was found in two sections, the smallest of which measures 30 mm, but is thought to be part of a still larger object.〔("Brodgar Boy" ) Orkneyjar. Retrieved 28 Aug 2011.〕 In 2013, an intricately inscribed stone was found, described as "potentially the finest example of Neolithic art found in the UK for several decades".〔(" 'Finest' Neolithic stone discovered at Orkney's Ness of Brodgar" ). BBC News. Retrieved 10 August 2013.〕 The stone is inscribed on both sides. A few days later archaeologists discovered a carved stone ball, a very rare find of such an object ''in situ'' in "a modern archaeological context".〔("Dig Diary — Wednesday, August 7, 2013" ). Orkneyjar. Retrieved 10 August 2013.〕 Prehistoric roof tiles were used in Ness of Brodgar. The archaeologists at the ongoing Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA) excavations have found Orkney’s first real evidence of a Neolithic roof. In most reconstructions of prehistoric buildings, one will often see the roof made of turf, animal skins or thatch. But on the Ness, the builders used stone slates for at least one of their buildings the remains of which have been uncovered within the side recesses along the interior walls of Structure Eight.〔http://www.orkneyjar.com/archaeology/nessofbrodgar/excavation-background-2/prehistoric-slate-roof/〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ness of Brodgar」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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