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Dalsetter

Field System (Prehistoric), Settlement (Prehistoric)

Site Name Dalsetter

Classification Field System (Prehistoric), Settlement (Prehistoric)

Alternative Name(s) Dalsetter Wynd

Canmore ID 907

Site Number HU41NW 2

NGR HU 4033 1570

NGR Description Centred HU 401 158

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/907

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Digital Images

Administrative Areas

  • Council Shetland Islands
  • Parish Dunrossness
  • Former Region Shetland Islands Area
  • Former District Shetland
  • Former County Shetland

Archaeology Notes

HU41NW 2 Centred 401 158

An enclosed group of three Neolithic houses lies about 50 yards east of the road between Dalsetter and Boddam and about midway between Dalsetter and Dalesbreck. 'A' the most northerly of the three houses, is an oval hollow surrounded by a bank in which a good number of large stones still survive. The bank is well-defined on the north and east arcs where a wall-thickness of 5 1/2' is suggested, and is tracable elsewhere. It is 32' overall but the length, from NW to SE, is indeterminate. 'B' 20 yards WSW of 'A' and roughly 40 yards from the corner of the sheepfold beyond. It is in much the same state of deterioration as 'A' and is heathergrown, but traces of a recess opening off the interior are and, diametrically opposite, a gap in the bank indicates an entrance. Both features are on the line of the main axis. The house measures 37 1/2' long and 33' broad. 'C' about 100 yards SSE of 'B'. The surrounding bank rises about 2' above the general level outside and the interior is slightly hollow. The remains are in poorer condition than the others and measure 41' by 31', the longer axis lying ENE-SSW.

The ruins of the enclosing wall, though much denuded and almost totally destroyed near a sheepfold by the roadside, still contain numerous large foundations stones, and enclose an irregularly circular area which has been divided into smaller allotments.

Nearby, on the east side, there is another enclosure also showing many large stones in its boundary-dyke, but there is no trace of a separate house-stead, and from here round to the south there are three or four other large curvilinear enclosures.

All probably formed a complex field system where, in parts, cultivation is testified by mounds of field- gathered stones.

C S T Calder 1958.

A settlement of six Neolithic/Bronze Age houses and a large assoc- iated field sytem, centred at HU 401 158. House 'C' falls within the ruins of a sub-circular enclosure which abuts onto house 'D', the latter not seen by Calder. This is itself contained within the ruins of a larger enclosure,not traceable in the NE, which contains houses 'A' and 'B', the latter being a good example of a typical Neolithic/Bronze Age house,and apparently of a slightly different nature to the rather amorphous remains of 'A', 'C', and 'D'. Both these enclosures contain several clearance heaps. Another house at HU 4004 1593 is defined by a slightly oval wall of earth-fast stones, and another, oval, but more poorly defined, at HU 3994 1585, is contained within the remains of a circular enclosure wall. They all occur within an area in which can be traced the remains of several field walls. The remains of a small enclosure measuring c.14.0m by c.12.0m at HU 4015 1562 may be associated, but contains no trace of a house.

Houses and associated enclosures surveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS(AA) 14th May 1968.

Activities

Aerial Photography (October 1971)

Oblique aerial photographs of Dalsetter, Shetland, by Mr John Dewar in 1971.

References

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