5,000 Years of History Still Standing In Scotland’s Shetland Isles
Ultima Thule meaning "farthest Thule", was the most northerly location mentioned in ancient Greek and Roman cartographic literature, while modern interpretations of this place include the islands of Saaremaa (Ösel) in Estonia and the Norwegian island of Smøla. However, more often Thule has been associated with the Orkney and Shetland island groups in northern Scotland. Located halfway between Scotland and Norway, Shetland is an archipelago comprising about 100 islands in the North Sea off the north-east coast of Scotland. Despite its small size, Shetland has a rich and fascinating history that spans over 5,000 years, since the earliest Neolithic inhabitants of Shetland arrived from the mainland in animal skin coracles around 3000 BC.
Britons with coracles – from Cassell's History of England, Vol. I, 1909. (Public Domain)
The Neolithic settlers on Shetland left behind numerous standing stones, burial cairns, and other megalithic structures that can still be seen on the islands today. In the centuries that followed, Shetland was inhabited by various groups of Celtic and Norse peoples who around 100 BC built the spectacular Broch of Mousa, a vast Iron Age stone tower-like structure. However, having arrived in the late eight century, and quickly established a thriving economy based on fishing, agriculture, and trade, it was the Vikings who left the deepest historical mark on the islands. Mousa Broch is mentioned in Egil's Saga which tells of a couple eloping from Norway to Iceland who were shipwrecked and used the broch as a temporary refuge. Furthermore, The Orkneyinga Saga tells of a siege of the broch by Earl Harald Maddadsson in 1153 AD, following the abduction of his mother, who was held captive inside the broch.
