Hamar and Underhoull, Unst: Settlement in Northernmost Scotland

This chapter discusses excavations at Hamar and Underhoull in Unst, Shetland, an island where a uniquely high number of longhouses of apparently Viking or Norse date have been found through survey, in a density and state of preservation unparalleled elsewhere in Britain. The excavations have revealed that a longer, and far more complex, settlement history of development and decline is present than previously thought at these two sites. Below one of the two single longhouses at Hamar, an earlier sunken-floored building was uncovered, predating the longhouse above it and like pit houses found in Norway from the 9th century onwards. Excavations at a previously unexplored longhouse at the upper area of Underhoull, revealed that it had several phases of use, with three zones, an upper, central, and lower room, two annexes flanking a flagged entrance passage, and a gulley at the back of the house to collect runoff form the hill above. Several finds were recovered, including a small steatite figurine, similar to an example from Iceland dating to the 11th century.