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Excavation
Date 1983
Event ID 576352
Category Recording
Type Excavation
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/576352
In 1983 a section was cut across the ramparts along the W cliffs by the Central Excavation Unit, as part of an SDD-funded programme of excavation at five Iron Age sites in Shetland threatened by coastal erosion. The work was intended to define the nature of the outer and central ramparts and to seek dating evidence for their construction. Both the outer and central ramparts were shown to have stone faces to rubble and soil cores, suggesting that all three ramparts are of similar construction. The excavations revealed evidence of chronological complexity: the central rampart was constucted after the adjacent ditches had, at least partially, infilled and may have replaced an earlier bank. The other rampart may be a later addition, although this is less certain. The only artefact type found was pottery, which was chronologically undiagnostic. The excavation was supervised by Peter Strong.
S Carter, R McCullagh and A MacSween 1995
