Jarlshof Prehistoric and Norse Settlement
Jarlshof Broch · Sumburgh Jarlshof
Multi-period: Neolithic to Medieval (c.2500 BCE–1600 CE)·Neolithic → Bronze Age → Iron Age (Broch) → Pictish → Norse·🇬🇧 Shetland Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom
About
About Jarlshof Prehistoric and Norse Settlement
Exceptionally multi-period settlement mound on the Shetland Mainland tip continuously inhabited for ~4,000 years. Sequence spans Late Neolithic houses, Bronze Age smithy, Iron Age broch and wheelhouses, Pictish dwellings, Viking longhouse and medieval farmstead. Excavated 1925–35 by A. O. Curle, J. R. C. Hamilton and later. The broch and wheelhouse complex overlies earlier structures; the Norse longhouse gave the site its Walter Scott-derived name.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Continuity vs hiatus between Pictish and Viking levels
- 02Original height and roof form of broch tower
Theories
- 01Strategic coastal headland reused for 4 millennia due to fertile soils and sea access
- 02Broch as elite residence later adapted into wheelhouse village
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 2500 BCE (earliest houses); broch c. 200 BCE–100 CE; Norse c. 9th–14th century CE
- Period
- Multi-period: Neolithic to Medieval (c.2500 BCE–1600 CE)
- Culture
- Neolithic → Bronze Age → Iron Age (Broch) → Pictish → Norse
- Purpose
- Domestic settlement, defensive broch, Norse farmstead; palimpsest of occupation
- Abandoned
- 14th century (Norse)
- Rediscovered
- 1897 after storms; excavated 1925–35
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 2500 BCE (earliest houses); broch c. 200 BCE–100 CE; Norse c. 9th–14th century CE
Initial construction
c. 1468 CE
Rediscovery
On the ground
Structures & features
59.8693° N · 1.2909° W · 7 m · 3 mapped features
Jarlshof Broch
brochIron Age broch tower on mound, one of earliest brochs with outworks and later wheelhouse inserts
59.8690° N · 1.2910° WViking Longhouse (Norse House)
longhouse9th–14th century bow-walled longhouse with paved floor and central hearth, namesake of Jarlshof
59.8691° N · 1.2906° WWheelhouse Complex
wheelhousePictish/Iron Age wheelhouses with radial stone piers abutting broch
59.8691° N · 1.2911° W
Gallery