Excavations continued in 1999 at Old Scatness  Broch. Archaeologists from Bradford  University and Shetland Amenity Trust, together with local volunteers are painstakingly exploring the Iron Age buildings surrounding the broch and the two buildings inside it. 

To everyone's amazement even more Pictish  houses were uncovered- a second village built into the ruins of the first.  

One of the finds of the season was part of a miniature dagger carved out of local siltstone. The dagger was perhaps a child's toy or worn as a  necklace. Off site the fascinating find was experimentally recreated out of siltstone and copper.   

Last summer saw the unveiling of Iron Age wheelhouses and cellular Pictish buildings all surviving to exceptional heights.

One especially interesting building to the west  of the broch provided a very unusual find.  

Tucked in between two piers (internal supporting walls) a stone lidded box was found (pictured left). The stone lid had a hole in the middle. A hole in the side of the stone box and a small mound of yellow clay next to it suggests that it was an oven. But was it domestic or did the building have a specialised function, such as grain drying? 

Off site last summer a replica Pictish house was constructed in its entirety (pictures on right). A professional drystone  waller taught volunteers how to build the stone work of the 'figure of eight' shaped house. A team then constructed the roof from a double layer of heather turves supported by a  timber and ropework frame. This was then held in place with  ropes and large stones.   

Also off site the Living History team continued to bring the site 'alive' to the public.  Demonstrations included making tools and ornaments using traditional Viking and Iron Age methods, weaving and spinning, and even Viking warfare re-enactments (left).   

This year site will be open to the public from June 24^th to August 14^th 2000. Visitors are welcome between 10 am to 5pm Monday-Thursday and between 10.30 am and 5.30pm Saturdays and Sundays (the site will be closed Fridays and between the 19th-21st July, sorry!) 

The Living History team and site guides will be your hosts.  

Watch this site for updates as the excavation season proceeds.