View SW of Burgi Geos Iron Age promontory fort, Yell, Shetland, Scotland, UK, showing a stone-lined approach path (L) leading to the fort (centre).
View SW of 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 (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 (R) & Burgi South. It featured in an episode of Channel 4's Extreme Archaeology (Shetland Fortress) broadcast 1 August 2004.
Size: 4969px × 3737px
Location: Burgi Geos Promontory Fort, Gloup, North Yell, Shetland, Scotland, UK
Photo credit: © Mick Sharp / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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