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The Shetland Islands

Next stop on this trip was the Shetland Islands - the northernmost part of Scotland. We anchored off of the largest city, Lerwick. It has a population of about 7,000 but I did not experience it as I selected a trip that moved south along the east shore of the North Sea to an archaeological site called Jarlshof. Near there, we hiked a short distance to Sumburgh Head, a spectacular sheer cliff with a lighthouse that faces the Scottish mainland.

Map of the destinations on this 8-day trip - Glasgow, Fort William, Portree, Orkney's, Shetland's
and Sognefjord
Map of the Shetland Islands and Sumburgh Head
Coastal drive along the North Sea
The North Sea on a calm day south of Lerwick
Beaches such as this were used by Late Neolithic and Bronze Age people on the islands
Jarlshof
An aerial photo of Jarlshof, taken from an interpretive sign on site. South is at the top and the various occupation
periods are color coded to the timeline shown in the next photo. The oldest sites are to the right in pink and date to
2500 to 800 BCE (Before Common Era, or the former BC). Adjacent to this is the orange-outlined roundhouses dating
from 500 to 200 BCE, followed by the yellow-colored habitation at 100 BCE; dark-green wheelhouses from 0-500 CE
(Common Era or formerly AD); dark blue outline at the top is Viking age 850 to 1275 CE; the farmhouse in dark grey
upper right from 1300 to 1500 CE; and the large house outlined in white was occupied from the 1590s to about 1700 CE.
Over 4500 years of occupation are revealed at this site, first exposed by erosion in 1890.
The wheel of time at Jarlshof
The oldest roundhouses are from the Late Neolithic, perhaps as old as 2700 BCE.
From an interpretive sign, an artists impression of an early Bronze Age roundhouse
Ruins of the interior of a wheelhouse from about 0 to 500 CE
Artists rendition of the interior of an occupied wheelhouse
Looking down on an excavated wheelhouse
These are the remains of the Viking occupation from about 850 to 1275 BCE
Sumburgh Head
Out next destination of Sumburgh Head as viewed from Jarlshof
On our way to Sumburgh Head, the southernmost point on the Shetlands
This is a working lighthouse with included residence, historic diesel engines and coffee shop
The Old Red Sandstone makes up the tilted layers

Many vessels have become shipwrecks at Sumburgh Head and one of the most famous was in January 1993 when
the oil tanker MV Braer ran aground in a violent storm
I got some great exposures of Atlantic puffins and summer flowers
Looking north along the west coast of Shetland
The upturned sandstone beds are the result of the Caledonian Orogeny, when Laurentia (ancient North America) collided with Baltica (ancient Scandinavia) and Avalonia (ancient southern Great Britain. However, a rather obvious wave-cut(and uplifted) beach terrace provided a convenient parking place for the coach!
Sailing out of Lerwick on our way to Norway!
Oil platforms in the North Sea. I'll be posting spectacular images of Norwegian fjords next time and
there will be more about the Caledonian Orogeny which is well expressed there.

Stratigraphy.net | Impressum

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