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A Shetland Christmas
Thammasmass e'en was five nights before Yule-day, and this evening was supposed to be peculiarly holy. No work of any kind was done after...
Archaeology Shetland
Jan 8, 2022


In Depth - An 'Unkindness' (Halloween 2021)
Opportunistic and exceptionally clever, ravens can mimic your words, count, are complex problem solvers and use tools. They play with...

Stephen Jennings
Dec 1, 2021


Site in Focus - Sandy Loch Oddity
At the north end of Sandy Loch in Lerwick – the sandy beach end – a building emerges when the water is low. Recently the weather has...
Archaeology Shetland
Dec 1, 2021


Air Raid Islands: the Luftwaffe over Shetland During World War Two
On a grassy knoll at the foot of Staney Hill is a concrete slab, the visible part ...
Samuel Sjoberg
Oct 16, 2021


Site in Focus - The Fladdabister Limekilns
Dramatically perched atop a small crag in Fladdabister are two 7m in diameter drystone circular limekilns. Used as a render for mortar...

Stephen Jennings
Aug 21, 2021


Site in Focus - East Shore Broch
Terribly eroding into the sea, East Shore Broch is adjacent to Harpers Marina and just east of Eastshore and the Pool of Virkie. With Old...

Stephen Jennings
May 18, 2021


In Depth - The Fate of the Picts in the Northern Isles
The following article is an examination of a divisive topic for some in the Northern Isles. As the author, I am often puzzled over the...

Stephen Jennings
Apr 9, 2021


Site in Focus - Sotersta
On the West Side, not far from the dramatic Broch of Culswick, you will find the remains of what appear rather typical abandoned crofts...

Stephen Jennings
Dec 5, 2020


In Depth - Halloween Treats
Whilst we would normally delight in presenting our (seemingly) annual Halloween talk this year, horrors of an altogether too real kind...

Stephen Jennings
Dec 4, 2020


In Depth - On the Trail of Munro
Dr Robert Munro was a physician and amateur archaeologist who turned his full attention to archaeology in 1886 and began lecturing in...

Stephen Jennings
Oct 2, 2020


Site in Focus - The Broch of Burra Ness
On the east coast of Yell and at the toe of a boot-shaped spit of fine pasture, just south of North Sandwick, are the remains of the...

Stephen Jennings
Sep 28, 2020


Site in Focus - Poverty in the Bronze Age
As a general guide before discussion, upland farming anywhere is a demanding labour, with the rocky landscape it can be even more so...

Stephen Jennings
Aug 10, 2020


In Depth - Pauper Huts/Crofts and Outsets
Still evident throughout the crofting landscape can be found subsets of the typical croft and crofthouse, namely that of the pauper hut...

Stephen Jennings
Jul 18, 2020


Site in Focus - The Mystery of the Stones
In our ongoing work with the North Roe Felsite Project (see here), and for the sheer pleasure of walking in remote places, we have come...

Stephen Jennings
Jun 11, 2020


Site in Focus - A Final Word on Scotland’s Urban Past & WWII Lerwick
On the back of the five-year Scotland’s Rural Past project – the research, recording and promotion of Scotland's historic rural...

Stephen Jennings
Apr 20, 2020


The Many Ways to Die in Shetland
This is a written version of the Halloween night presentation this year (2019) which followed the AGM. There were many sources of...

Stephen Jennings
Feb 23, 2020


Site in Focus - Fetlar's Sna Broch
Not much remains of Sna Broch these days, years of storms and coastal erosion have reduced the main broch to nonexistence though the outer
Stephen Jennings
Jan 20, 2020


In Depth - The North Roe Neolithic 'Axe Factory'
The North Roe Neolithic ‘axe factory’ covers an area of at least 60 square kilometres, from the Beorgs of Uyea on its northern fringe to...
Stephen Jennings
Nov 25, 2019


Historical Profile - Charles S T Calder
Born on the 1st of March 1891 in Forfar C S T Calder is perhaps most closely associated with Shetland as anywhere, a result of his...
Stephen Jennings
Nov 15, 2019


Site in Focus - Shetland Witches
The presence of witches in Shetland folklore runs persistently deep. Though they are sometimes helpful they are as often not, the tragic...
Archaeology Shetland
Nov 5, 2019
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