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Monday, July 14
I have just finished my first year of studying Geography and Archaeology and cannot believe that my first dig is at the Ring of Brodgar! We are now into our second week at the site, and, to be honest, it has been extremely hard work so far. However, when I see how much progress we have made, after just one week, it makes it all worthwhile. The first couple of days were spent setting up the site and deturfing Trench C, which required a lot of hard labour and energy. I think the brilliant conveyer belt has become my new best friend! The rest of the week involved us removing the remaining topsoil and trowelling away in the trench to uncover the amazing bedrock ditch. I definitely underestimated how much concentrated effort actually goes into trowelling since I have never done it before.
The photographs we took look great and really show how much we have accomplished in one short week. As much as we enjoyed our first week, we were all obviously looking forward to a slightly more restful weekend! Refreshed from a weekend off, we are now starting work on Trench A, the wetter trench to the north of the Ring (and nearest the road), supervised by Bob Nunn of Bournemouth University. I think we were all anxious about the dreaded deturfing again, but it was amazing how quickly we got back into it. Once again it is a lot of work, but I’m helping just as much as the boys… The weather seems to have been on our side so far and I think me and the other Manchester students are just about getting used to the wind up here! I am looking forward to the next few days of working on the site as it really gives me an insight into the practical side of my course. The whole thing is a brilliant experience for me and I feel so lucky to be involved in such a wonderful project.
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Hi there! I’m Ruth, one of the Manchester University students involved in this fascinating excavation. 
