Kebister: The Four-Thousand-Year-Old Story of One Shetland Township

With specialist contributions by Patrick Ashmore, Simon Butler, Stephen Carter, Ann Clarke, Geoffrey Collins, Naomi Crowley, Magnar Dalland, Camilla Dickson, Andrew Dugmore, Richard Fawcett, Noel Fojut, Barbara Ford, Dennis Gallagher, Pamela Graves, Julian Henderson, John Higgin, David Jordan, Finbar McCormick, Jacqueline I. McKinley, Ann MacSween, Susan Mills, Anthony Newton, Sandra Nye, Paul M. Sharman, Brian Smith, Michael Spearman, Ross Trench-Jellicoe. Illustration: Sylvia Stevenson and Christina Unwin. The Kebister project began in early 1985, when Lerwick Harbour Trust confirmed that the construction of an oil rig supply base at Kebister, Dales Voe, was shortly to commence. The grass-covered outline of a large rectangular building, interpreted as as a 'Viking house' by Peter Moar in 1971, was visible in the area of the supply base. Thus began the Kebister project. By the end of six weeks of fieldwork, in April 1985, it had become clear that the rectangular building was a remarkable post-medieval structure, that an extensive prehistoric settlement was located adjacent to the building, and that the hillside was studded with archaeological features.