Ness of Burgi

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Seen from the west (land side)

The Ness of Burgi is a Promontory Fort (or Dun , here called Blockhouse because of its rectangular shape) with elements of a brochure, near Sumburgh on the Scottish Shetland Islands . A small road branches off from the A970 at Bracks, shortly before Sumburgh Airport, to the south, which runs along Scat Ness. The coastal promontory on which the fort lies, which can only be reached on foot, is at risk from erosion.

The southern tip of Shetland's main island, Mainland, forks into two rocky headlands about three kilometers long, both of which were likely fortified during the Iron Age . The western tip has two forts along its east coast, one is Scatness, half of which has already fallen into the sea through erosion. The other, further out, is Ness of Burgi.

Both facilities were excavated in 1935, but no datable evidence of their construction was found. The stones from the Burgi excavation were placed in a neat but rather misleading pile on the outer wall. The fort is protected by a wide wall, which is reinforced on the outside with layers of stone. The wall that seals off the headland is flanked on both sides by a ditch cut into the rock. A straight stone-lined passage leads through the ramparts to behind the inner moat.

  • Ness of Burgi

  • Passage - seen from the outside

  • Southern chamber

  • Northern chamber from the north

  • North chamber from the south

  • East entrance

The fort's masonry rises more than 1.5 m. The wall originally had a higher structure (four meters), which has been partially preserved above the unusually low paved passage. The 22 m long fort has six m thick walls.

A guard cell in the passage and bolt holes indicate that there was a door security device, as is actually common at Brochs . The opening on the east side of the passage, which can only be reached from the inside, and another cell on the west side are elements that were common for Brochs. Nothing is known about any buildings in the fort.

See also

literature

  • Stephen P. Carter, Rocerick PJ McCullagh, Ann MacSween: The Iron Age in Shetland: excavations at five sites threatened by coastal erosion. In: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Vol. 125, 1995, ISSN  0081-1564 , pp. 429-482 , here pp. 446-447, 473-480.
  • Raymond G. Lamb: Iron Age promontory forts in the Northern Isles (= BAR. British series. Vol. 79). BAR, Oxford 1980, ISBN 0-86054-087-1 , p. 81, (also: Birmingham, University, dissertation, 1973).
  • Cecil L. Mowbray: Excavation at the Ness of Burgi, Shetland. In: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Vol. 70, 1935/1936, pp. 381-387 .

Web links

Commons : Ness of Burgi promontory fort  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 59 ° 51'31.9 "  N , 1 ° 18'32.9"  W.