Excavation work carried out by archaeologists at the sauna
An ancient sauna discovered on a remote Orcadian island has been named one of the top ten global archaeological discoveries of 2015.
The Bronze Age ritual building was uncovered in Westray after laying undiscovered for 4000 years.
The building, on the periphery of the prehistoric landscape at the Links of Noltland, came in at number two in the authorative Heritagedaily.com list — which also included the discovery of Queen Khentakawess III’s tomb, in Egypt, and that of the world’s oldest stone tools, in Kenya.
Excavation work carried out by archaeologists at the sauna
The Westray find was found to be almost complete and encased within a rapidly eroding mound – and next to where the famous ‘Westray Wife’ was found in 2009, which is believed to be the earliest depiction of a human face in Britain.
The Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project – which reveals traces of standing stones beneath Durrington Walls super-henge – was named the top discovery of last year.
Also on the list was evidence of the Acra citadel on the City of David hill, new geoglyphs on the famous Nasca Plateau in Peru and a Battle of Britain Spitfire unearthed on Salisbury Plain.
Ancient island sauna named in top 10 global archaeological discoveries
