The next stop on this journey was the Shetland Islands, the northernmost part of Scotland. We anchored off the coast of Lerwick, the largest city. Lerwick has a population of around 7,000, but I didn’t get to experience it as I chose to travel south along the eastern North Sea coast to an archaeological site called Jarlshof. Nearby, I took a short hike up to Sumburgh Head, a spectacular cliff with a lighthouse that faces the Scottish mainland.
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Map of destinations on this 8 day trip – Glasgow, Fort William, Portree, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands
Sognefjord |
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| Map of the Shetland Islands and Sumburgh Head |
North Sea coastal drive
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| North Sea On a calm day South of Lerwick |
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| These beaches were used by the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age people who inhabited the islands. |
Jarlshof
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Aerial photo of Jarlshof taken from the on-site information board, with the south at the top and the various occupations visible.
The eras are color-coded according to the timeline in the following photo. The oldest ruins are in pink on the right,
It was built between 2500 and 800 B.C. (B.C., or before Christ). Next to it stands a round orange house.
500-200 BC, yellow dwellings appear in 100 BC, dark green wheelhouses appear in 0-500 AD.
(AD or earlier AD); dark blue outline at top indicates Viking period 850-1275, dark grey farmhouse
The upper right corner dates from 1300 to 1500 AD, and the large house outlined in white was inhabited from the 1590s until about 1700 AD.
The site was first exposed by erosion in 1890 and has revealed a history of occupation dating back more than 4,500 years. |
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| Jarlshof’s Wheel of Time |
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| The oldest circular houses date to the Late Neolithic period, probably around 2700 BC. |
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| Artist’s rendering of an Early Bronze Age circular building, from the information plaque. |
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| Remains of the interior of a wheelhouse, dating from 0 to 500 AD |
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| Artist performance Inside the wheelhouse |
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| Looking down at the excavated wheelhouse |
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| These are the remains of a Viking settlement dating from around 850 to 1275 BC. |
Sumburgh Head
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| Our next destination, Sumburgh Head, seen from Jarlshof |
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| On the way to Sumburgh Head, the southernmost point of the Shetland Islands |
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The older red sandstone forms graded layers.
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Many ships have been wrecked at Sumburgh Head, the most famous being in January 1993.
The oil tanker MV Brael ran aground in a severe storm. |
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| I got some great photos of Atlantic puffins and summer flowers. |
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| Looking north along the west coast of Shetland |
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| The overturned sandstone layers are the result of the Caledonian orogeny, when Laurentia (ancient North America) collided with Baltica (ancient Scandinavia) and Avalonia (ancient southern Britain), but the fairly obvious wave-cut (and uplifted) beach terraces provided convenient parking spaces for buses. |
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| We set sail from Lerwick and head to Norway! |
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An oil platform in the North Sea. Next time I’ll post some amazing photos of the Norwegian fjords.
It goes into more detail about the Caledonian orogeny. |
