Viking Unst Project Excavations at Hamar and the Upper House, Underhoull: Field Season 2007: Interim Report No. 2 (Data Structure Report)

The Viking Unst Project began in August 2005 with an integrated survey of key sites in
the island of Unst (Bond et al. 2006). Using a Penmap survey as well as simple
annotated plans, this initial investigation aimed to thoroughly record the sites in terms
of surviving earthworks and the surrounding area. The first excavation season was
carried out in July 2006 and focused on the site of Hamar under the direction of Dr.
Julie Bond, with work on the site of Belmont being carried out under the direction of
Stine Larsen of Roskilde Skibsmuseet.
It has been suggested that Unst may have played an important role in the expansion of
the Viking/Norse populations, acting as a staging post between Norway, Britain and the
lands further west (Ritchie 1996: 71; Graham-Campbell & Batey 1998: 67). Published
excavations include those undertaken at Underhoull (Small 1966), Sandwick (Bigelow
1985), Framgord (RCAHMS 1946), and Norwick (Ballin Smith 2007). Small’s
excavations at Underhoull took place before the routine employment of sieving and
sampling on archaeological excavations and so little can be said about the economy of
the site or about its chronology. A major aim of the Viking Unst Project is to excavate
new sites in Unst employing up-to-date methodology to address these key issues. This
research will advance our understanding not only of Unst’s past, but of Shetland as a
whole.
The sites investigated during the 2007 excavation season were Hamar (SMR site 3471,
Nat Grid Ref. HP 6463 0933), and a longhouse located adjacent to the broch at
Underhoull (SMR site HP50SE13, Nat grid Ref. HP5734 0435), located in the Westing
and referred to here as the Upper House, Underhoull.