See archaeology in action in Orkney this summer

With four digs planned you’ll be able to watch history uncovered in front of you thanks to our expert archaeologists. Projects planned include Neolithic, Iron Age, and Viking sites, and the focus will also return to the Ness of Brodgar, albeit it on a smaller scale than before.

As always, members of the public are more than welcome at each excavation, and there are often open days and scheduled tours on offer too.

Find out what you can see across Orkney this summer.

This will be the final season of excavation at The Cairns and the culmination of 20 years of digging at the site. This Iron Age settlement with a 22-metre-wide broch at its heart has been one of Orkney's most enthralling digs, welcoming visitors from around the world to South Ronaldsay.

For 2026, the focus will continue to be on the major settlement site and will aim to shed further light on the origins and development of brochs, broch-village buildings, and later Iron Age villages. The goal is to complete the excavation of the precious floor deposits and occupation soils from within the broch - a feat rarely accomplished in the modern period of broch excavations.

The diggers will also continue excavating key buildings within the external village. Don't miss out on visiting this special site before it's covered up for good.

Although this is one of the smaller excavations you'll find in Orkney, it's still a site that is host to more than a millennia of history.

Archaeologists at Skaill Farm in Rousay have uncovered evidence of use here dating back to the Viking-era. The farmstead was then in use right up until it was abandoned in the 1800s during the island's clearances.

This year, the focus will be on clarifying the sequence of occupation from the Norse period to the 19th century. It's well worth a visit, especially if you're spending a day or two exploring all of Rousay's other incredible archaeological sites.