Old Scatness Broch, ancient site in Shetland Islands

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What is recorded here

Old Scatness preserves an Iron Age broch village buried beneath wind-blown sand and discovered during airport work. Houses were remodelled for centuries and later Pictish and Norse people reused the settlement, giving Shetland an unusually long unbroken building story.

Who made it and when

Iron Age islanders built the broch around 400–200 BC. Road work for Sumburgh Airport exposed the site in 1975, and Shetland Amenity Trust excavated it extensively from 1995.

How it was made and used

A massive circular broch stood inside a ditch, surrounded by wheelhouses with stone piers and central hearths. Families cooked, worked bone and metal, kept animals and repeatedly altered their homes.

What was found

Excavation recovered painted pebbles, combs, pottery, tools, metalworking waste and food remains. Pictish objects and Norse layers proved occupation continued long after the broch's first builders.

What remains

Broch walls, wheelhouses, passages and hearths survive as consolidated stonework, with experimental roofs protecting and explaining parts of the village. Further deposits remain beneath the surrounding ground.

Why it mattered

Old Scatness gives rare household detail across Iron Age, Pictish and Norse Shetland. Its sudden discovery also shows how modern construction can expose a complete settlement invisible at the surface.