Archaeology Notes

Event ID 642109

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/642109

HU42NW 6 4410 2935.

(HU 4410 2935) Brough (OE) (Site of)

OS 6" map, Shetland, 2nd ed., (1903).

A grass-covered mound 9'9" high and covering about 1/4 of an acre.

'That it conceals a structure of some kind is evident and its general appearance is in no way inconsistent with the popular idea of a broch. Without excavation, however, certainty is impossible. The site would be rather un- usual, as the ground in the immediate neighbourhood is flat for a considerable distance round about, so that the defences must have been entirely artificial.'

RCAHMS 1946, visited 1930.

A large, sprawling, turf-covered mound, as described by RCAHM. It has been quarried into in the past, and rabbit holes reveal a large quantity of stone. There are no visible traces of a broch or other structure upon it, but the position is suitable for a broch, and its size and shape are typical of a spread broch mound.

Visited by OS (AA) 8 May 1968.

A machine trench up to 1m deep was cut across the top of the mound to test its nature, due to a planning application. The SW facing section was drawn. Time and money did not allow further investigation.

The trench revealed walls approximately 6m wide, one with traces of an internal cell or gallery inside. The distance in the centre between the two walls was only 2m. There had been burning in situ on either side of the structure, and there was a pit on the SE side. There were no finds, but a few stones showed evidence of having been worked. A few stones bore an, as yet unidentified white coating.

The site is situated in a voe, which is gradually filling up with peat and silt. The site could stand 7m and be well preserved. Identification as a broch was substantiated. Records held at Shetland Amenity Trust.

V Turner 1988.