Ancient site · Temple
Ness of Brodgar
The Ness of Brodgar is a complex of large stone buildings on a strip of land between the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness in Orkney, Scotland. Excavators found massive walls, decorated stone slabs and a large building described as a Neolithic temple.
People gathered here for well over a thousand years, and by about 2200 BCE the site had been closed and partly taken apart. After excavation ended in 2024, it was covered over again to protect it.
- Dates
- c. 3500–2200 BCE
- Still standing
- No, or only traces
- UNESCO World Heritage
- Yes
- Location
- 59.00° N, 3.22° W
How we know
No writing existed; excavations from 2003 to 2024 and radiocarbon dates tell its story.
Nearby sites
- Skara Brae c. 3180–2500 BCE
- Hadrian's Wall begun 122 CE; Roman rule ended c. 410 CE
- Star Carr c. 9300–8500 BCE
- Newgrange built c. 3100 BCE; out of use by the Bronze Age
- Tollund Man (find site) died c. 405–384 BCE
- Stonehenge c. 3100–1600 BCE (sarsen circle c. 2600–2400 BCE)