The 2019 Swandro excavation is almost upon us, in fact an advance party of keen & eager Bradford students has arrived - namely Klaudia, Hannah and finds hut supremo Hollie, together with Caz who's commuting over from Birsay on the boat - and they are starting to get the site organised. Here they are enjoying a spot of lunch on some of the new digger's benches - it had stopped raining for a while then, but the rain returned soon after this picture was taken.
There's lots to do: trailers to unpack, information boards to set out, the site to cordon off, paths to reinstate - not to mention around 2,000 small finds bags & labels to write out - enough to keep everyone out of trouble this week at least! Thankfully the strimming has already been done, we've learnt the hard way that the best thing to do when strimming a vast area of thick grass and dockens is to hire a professional who has all the right equipment. We need the whole of the landward side of the site to be cleared as Bradford University's Dr Chris Gaffney is coming up with his ground penetrating radar equipment so needs good access.
The site itself looks like it took a bit of a battering over the winter - it's a bit hard to see in the pic below, but there's a distinct hollow in the storm beach on the right over the Iron Age buildings - we definitely left it a lot more filled in than that. There also seems to be a fair few orthostats (upright stones, part of the structures) projecting than there should be - we won't know what's gone over the winter until everyone arrives and we can get to the serious business of uncovering the site.
Hopefully you'll follow our progress and keep in touch with this year's excavation - we'll be posting our daily dig diary online and links to these will also be on social media, so you might like to follow us on Facebook
If you're going to be in Orkney this summer the please do come and visit us, we'll have our usual signposts from the bottom of the hill at Midhowe tomb, with full details online we'd love to see you!
Crowdfund the excavation - we need your help! You may make a donation using your credit card, debit card, PayPal account or set up a direct debit from your UK bank account. US taxpayers who wish to make a US tax-deductible donation of $500 or more to us via CAF America, a US 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit please click here for more information
Tomb on the beach at Swandro - the outer walls of the Neolithic chambered tomb are the concentric circles in the foreground, the burial chamber is under the grass at the left. The Atlantic Ocean is lapping at the edge of the site.
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