Ali Miller’s job of clearing the topsoil at the Stonehall site. The anticipation (or just plain excitement) peaks when the excavation actually begins. For us this was with the arrival of Ali Miller, the renowned Orcadian machine driver, with his JCB to strip off the topsoil of both sites. Ali removed the topsoil with his usual precision (he is reputed to be able to take the top off an egg) and the underlying archaeology soon became visible.