Archive | Archaeology Shetland

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Nov 21, 2018

In Depth - The Sheep Thief

This is an unusual post for us but since it's Halloween season we thought this rather obscure, dark and fun poem would be our In Depth fe...

Stephen Jennings

Oct 11, 2018

Site in Focus - Broo Gill Roundhouse

Simple fieldwalking in archaeology can be one of the most rewarding endeavours in which one takes part; the fresh air, the singing birds,...

In Depth - (not the) St Ninian's Isle (treasure)

Stephen Jennings

Oct 2, 2018

In Depth - (not the) St Ninian's Isle (treasure)

What follows is a hard copy summation of a multimedia presentation given to the public on Halloween night 2017. Care has been taken to in...

Stephen Jennings

Aug 17, 2018

Site in Focus - The Chambered Cairns

The most common chambered cairns we find in Shetland are heel-shaped, a plan almost completely unique to this location. Perhaps as old as...

Stephen Jennings

Jun 5, 2018

Site in Focus - Tangwick Watermill

The Tangwick horizontal mill, not far from the Tangwick Haa Museum, is a reconstruction of the typical Shetland mill, often referred to l...

Stephen Jennings

Feb 7, 2018

Site in Focus - Troni Shun

Location, Location, Location: houses in Neolithic/Bronze Age Shetland. The first settlers we know of came to the south end of Shetland in...

Stephen Jennings

Nov 7, 2017

Site in Focus - Mousa Broch

On the island of Mousa stands the grandest of all surviving brochs in Scotland. Just over 13m tall with a thicker than normal drystone wa...

Site in Focus - Ronas Hill Chambered Cairn

Stephen Jennings

Aug 22, 2017

Site in Focus - Ronas Hill Chambered Cairn

The Neolithic chambered cairn on the summit of Ronas Hill, Shetland’s highest point, may well be the highest chambered cairn to be found ...

Archaeology Shetland

Jul 7, 2017

In Depth - The Papar Origin

Shetland has nine principal locations derived from Papa or Papar, a root pertaining to monks or priests of Celtic origin; think Papa Stou...

Stephen Jennings

Dec 21, 2016

Site in Focus - Ness of Sound

South of Lerwick at the Sound of Ness are the remains of a significant World War II coastal battery designed to guard the approach to Lerw...

Stephen Jennings

Jun 19, 2016

Site in Focus - Broch of Clickimin

With its exceptional size and Lerwick location the Broch of Clickimin is perhaps one of the most visible and easily accessible prehistori...

Stephen Jennings with contributions from Esther

Apr 12, 2016

In Depth - Temple Stories

If you recall earlier in the past year we visited Stanydale Temple in an In Depth article. We now want to revisit the site to look in mor...

Stephen Jennings

Mar 27, 2016

Site in Focus - St Ninian's Isle

Due to the UK's largest active tombolo St Ninian's Isle is either an island or a peninsula depending on the time of day and year. Aesthe...

Stephen Jennings

Jan 21, 2016

Site in Focus - RAF Garth's Ness

LORAN A, often known simply as LORAN (Long Range Navigation), was a hyperbolic radio navigation system (see 'Links for Further Informatio...

Esther Renwick

Jan 16, 2016

In Depth - Steatite in Shetland

The extraction and working of Steatite, or soapstone, has been an important industry throughout much of Shetland’s past. This article pro...

Stephen Jennings

Dec 7, 2015

Site in Focus - Broch of Burland

Upon visiting the Broch of Burland to assess its overall condition and risk due to coastal erosion we set about doing our usual research ...

In Depth - Excavation and the Story of Four Sites

Stephen Jennings

Oct 28, 2015

In Depth - Excavation and the Story of Four Sites

The decision to excavate in archaeology is not nearly as simple as burying a spade in the dirt; if but it were. Instead there are a mult...

Stephen Jennings

Oct 8, 2015

Site in Focus - Channerwick

The notion of the coastline at Channerwick containing archaeological material was first documented in the 1950s. The site was visited by ...

Stephen Jennings

Aug 23, 2015

Site in Focus - Fethaland

Fethaland’s early development was a means to supplement the local subsistence diet of the time but soon grew into an important part of th...

Stephen Jennings

Jul 9, 2015

Site in Focus - Pinhoulland

Pinhoulland represents one of the largest Neolithic-Bronze Age settlements on Shetland. It is also a very pleasant and easy (if rather we...

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