Burgi Geos Iron Age promontory fort, Yell, Shetland, Scotland, UK, showing stone-lined approach path (L) & rocky saddle leading to the blockhouse (R).
Burgi Geos Iron Age promontory fort, Yell, Shetland, Scotland, UK, showing the stone-lined approach path (L) & rocky saddle (ditch) leading to the stone-walled fort (rear R). The drystone cross-wall ( long x thick) aligned NE-SW cutting off the tip of the promontory is similar to other rectangular blockhouses found in Shetland. It is connected to a ring wall forming a small irregular enclosure (roughly 22m x 10m) at the seaward end of the promontory where traces of round huts, a hearth & Iron Age pottery have been found. The narrow outer entranceway is lined for some 8m by a row of slabs on the N & a bank studded with jagged stones resembling a chevaux-de-frise on the S (rear): possibly the eroded remains of a grand entrance passage or avenue rather than the more usual defensive blocking feature. Located on the remote NW coast of Yell, Burgi Geos has a spectacular & dangerous situation on a narrow promontory with cliffs 60m high between the geos (eroded clefts) of Burgi North & Burgi South. It featured in an episode of Channel 4's Extreme Archaeology (Shetland Fortress) broadcast 1 August 2004.
Size: 3723px × 2616px
Location: Burgi Geos Blockhouse Fort, North Neaps, Gloup, North Yell, Shetland, Scotland, UK
Photo credit: © Mick Sharp / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: age, ancient, archaeological, archaeology, avenue, blockhouse, britain, british, burgi, castle, chevaux-de-frise, cliff, cliffs, coast, coastal, dangerous, defended, edge, enclosure, entrance, entranceway, extreme, fort, fortress, geo, geos, gloup, great, holm, iron, islands, isles, monument, narrow, neaps, north, northern, parapet, passage, precipitous, promontory, remote, ring, row, scotland, sea, settlement, sheer, shetland, south, spectacular, stone, uk, wall, yell
