Archaeology Notes
Date 27 July 1970
Event ID 642620
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Archaeology Notes
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/642620
HU39SE 4 3816 9150.
(HU 38279152) Brough (O.E.)
OS 6" map, Shetland, 2nd ed. (1900)
The Kame of Isbister, a rock stack of mica slate with a covering of clay, attains a maximum height of 38m. and encloses an area some 95m N-S by 55m transversely which slopes steeply from E-W. It is joined to the mainland by a knife-edge ridge, half way along which a rocky boss now denies access. It is recorded that a footpath formerly traversed the ridge, but this has since been eroded by cliff falls.
When Cockburn (G Gordon 1878) visited the site in 1876, he noted 23 buildings constructed of earth and stone, set into the steep slope, and measuring from 10-24' in length and 8-10' in breadth. In a majority of cases the doors faced SE., but this was purely a matter of convenience. He dug trenches into two of the houses, but found only ashes, fire-marked stones, and the remains of a 'nail or some instrument of iron.' There were no bones or shells.
It was not possible to visit the site, but examination from the air and of air-photographs confirmed Cockburn's description, except that only 19 buildings could be identified. In addition traces of a wall could be seen along the lower, seaward, side of the stack.
Cockburn refuted earlier suggestions that it was the site of a broch, commented on the similarity of the houses to those erected by Shetland fishermen in his day, and drew comparisons with the seasonal fishing station at Fethaland (HU 375943). An examination of the ruined buildings at Fethaland, however, revealed that they are not comparable in either plan or construction. Also, the Kame of Isbister, a virtually inaccessible, exposed, rock stack is a situation no sensible fishermen would choose, and there are no suitable harbours nearby. The possibility that it was a Viking settlement can be discounted for the same reasons. The site has clearly been selected for purposes of refuge and isolation - it is effectively screened from the land - and the obvious need for privacy provides a clue to its identity. There is documentary evidence that Irish missionaries reached the Northern Isles in the 7-8th centuries AD. The organisation of the Celtic church was primarily monastic in character, and the monasteries were located in many cases in lonely inaccessible places such as off-shore islands or cliff-girt promontories or headlands sealed off from the landward side by a stout drystone wall - the vallum monasterii' - which served not only to enclose the monastery, but as a symbolic barrier excluding the outside world.
One such site has already been identified at Brough of Deerness, Orkney, a projecting headland separated from the mainland by a deep cleft or geo, containing about 15 buildings forming a very close parallel both in position and layout to Kame of Isbister. (cf. HY50NE 14)
Surveyed at 1/10000; enlargement at 1/1250.
Surveyed by OS (AC) 28 July 1970
