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coastarch.bsky.social
You can’t do a coastal survey in Shetland without encountering brochs. These epic monuments of the Iron Age never fail to impress and interest us. What's your favourite Shetland broch?
#hessupported #coastarch #scotarchstrat
May 28, 2025 at 10:05 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
Excellent first day with @archshet.bsky.social on the Gletness dig. Thank you everyone!

#HESSupported #coastarch #ScotArchStrat
May 30, 2025 at 8:52 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
The Dornoch Firth Coastal Survey (Mar/Apr2025) Report is out! Highlights: a monumental fish trap, Bonar bridge coastal engineering, & a wonderful discovery of zulu sailing drifter. Download here: scapetrust.org/wp-content/u...
#coastarch #scotarchstrat #hessupported
October 24, 2025 at 3:18 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
This remarkable site at Sands of Breckon, Yell, is revealing layers of history. Coastal processes have exposed prehistoric houses and burial cairns.

@archshet.bsky.social @standrewshist.bsky.social
#HESsupported #coastarch #scotarchstrat
August 1, 2025 at 7:53 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
You never know what’s round the corner. This re-used saddle quern hints of a nearby prehistoric site - and sure enough - a few paces further, an Iron Age settlement is revealed in the eroding section. We look forward to returning to Yell in June for more!
#hessupported #coastarch #scotarchstrat
May 25, 2025 at 10:02 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
Happy New Year from all of us at SCAPE!
Thank you to our volunteers, followers, partners and funders for all your support in 2025.
We look forward to seeing you as we survey Scotland's coast in 2026...
#coastarch #hessupported #scotarchstrat
January 1, 2026 at 6:08 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
Gletness Excavation Report is out!
In May, SCAPE & Archaeology Shetland excavated an eroding Middle-Late Iron Age settlement & a Bronze Age burnt mound.
Short visit, big archaeology.
Download the Report: scapetrust.org/wp-content/u...

@archshet.bsky.social
#coastarch #CoastalHeritage #hessupported
Aerial image of the excavation trenches Prehistoric buildings exposed by coastal erosion
September 30, 2025 at 7:32 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
Building of the day - a ruinous Böd – (store with accommodation associated with commercial fishing) on the shore at Lindburn, West Yell.
We'd love to know more about the history of this interesting building!
#hessupported #scotarchstrat #coastarch
May 20, 2025 at 9:59 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
It was an absolute pleasure to have you and the rest of the gang from @arcdurham.bsky.social with us! Thanks for all your help, and we'll keep you posted on when we are out next! #CoastArch #HESSupported #ScotArchStrat
ajschlich.bsky.social Amber @ajschlich.bsky.social · Mar 10
Had a fantastic weekend surveying in NE Scotland with @coastarch.bsky.social, can’t wait for the next opportunity!
March 12, 2025 at 9:25 AM
coastarch.bsky.social
We are back on Sanday Orkney, out and about with island residents doing a coastal survey and a mini-dig of a site eroding from the beach. It’s been 27 years since the island was last surveyed so it will be very interesting to see how the coastal archaeology has fared. #coastarch
August 28, 2026 at 9:39 AM
coastarch.bsky.social
Happy Hogmanay and all the best for 2025 from all of us at SCAPE!
Thank you to our volunteers, followers, partners and funders for all your support in 2024. We look forward to seeing you as we visit more of Scotland's coast in 2025.
#HESSupported #Coastarch #ScotArchStrat
December 31, 2024 at 3:00 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
What progress over just 4 days with the amazing @archshet.bsky.social on the Gletness dig. One or more big Iron Age buildings and a Bronze Age burnt mound. Done and dusted for now. Thank you everyone!
#HESSupported #coastarch #ScotArchStrat
June 3, 2025 at 8:30 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
Exciting find from the Fife Coastal Survey: graffitied WW2 anti-tank cubes!
Inscribed with "AMPC 56 Company 1940 True Pines" - the company of Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps who constructed them.
But the final line is a mystery...
Do you recognise "True Pines"?
#coastarch #WW2 #truepines
WW2 anti-tank cube with graffiti
June 23, 2026 at 10:40 AM
coastarch.bsky.social
Our first coastal survey of the year will be along the southern coast of the Dornoch Firth! Join us March 7–10 & April 5–7 as we explore this historic shoreline or get in touch with your insights on the area's coastal heritage & knowledge of coastal change. #CoastArch #HESSupported #ScotArchStrat
February 28, 2025 at 3:55 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
In the lead up to Christmas and as part of establishing our presence on Bluesky we thought it would be fun to share our favourite coastal sites that we recorded in 2024. We’ll post one a day until the 24th. #CoastArch #Archaeology 🏺 #HESSupported
First up - Fassenden’s Wireless Station. 👇
December 20, 2024 at 11:45 AM
coastarch.bsky.social
Shetland horizontal mills - used for a 1000 years - now mostly ruinous. You will find them alone or in groups, like these examples in North Yell. An intact working example survives at the Crofthouse Museum in Dunrossness which you can visit! #hessupported #coastarch #scotarchstrat
Breckon Mill Breckon Mill Toft mill was described as a stone box built over the burn. It went out of use by the 1870s. Toft Mill
May 24, 2025 at 5:00 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
The strong winds of Storm Bram coincided with high tides, potentially causing coastal erosion. When it’s safe you can help monitor changes by reporting any damage you see. Use Dynamic Coast's new Coastal Erosion Reporter tool at www.DynamicCoast.com
Thank you!
#stormbram #coastarch #hessupported
December 10, 2025 at 12:33 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
Our penultimate site: the Kelp industry on Orkney. Stronsay led Orkney’s kelp production from 1722, producing potash & soda from seaweed for the glass industry. Working with Stronsay High School, we surveyed drying walls & burning pits at Grice Ness, where erosion threatens the site #CoastArch 🪸🏺
Stronsay high school students help complete a measured survey of the kelping landscape at Grice Ness Kelp drying walls and kelp burning pits at the coast edge. Stronsay high school students mark out the future coastline at Grice Ness. A kelp drying wall at Grice Ness.
December 23, 2024 at 12:15 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
Our third highlight is a magical Iron Age site at Huisinis, Isle of Harris. A circular structure, built with glittering pink & grey Lewisian Gneiss rocks, dates back 2-3000 years. Partially buried in sand, it includes walls, bones, shells, & burnt stones, with more waiting to be revealed #CoastArch
Local volunteer Fran showing the scale of the Iron Age structure, not much of which is left. Excavations have shown it is 2000-3000 years old. Nearby are fragments of further walls and an area of black peaty deposit containing crushed bone, shell, and burnt stone. Like many sites in mobile sand dune systems, this one is sometimes visible and sometimes not, and always vulnerable to erosion. More of the site might be revealed in the coming years...
December 22, 2024 at 12:15 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
On the south edge of Ascog Bay on the Isle of Bute is a unique site – the mostly unaltered ruins of a salt panhouse. Three hundred years ago salt was made in this building by boiling sea water in iron pans, with coal supplied from a nearby mine. #CoastArch #HESSupported #CoastalErosion 🏺🌊🧂
This would have been a typical form of panhouse working in Scotland from the 15th to the 18th centuries. A very similar building used to stand at the saltworks at the Cock of Arran until it collapsed some years ago, leaving Ascog as a lonely survivor. The building survives to several meters in height on the edge of the bay, made out of red sandstone mortared together. Several small outlets can be seen, which may have been windows or used in the salt-making process. The building is partially covered in ivy and surrounded by trees.
January 22, 2025 at 2:10 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
More fantastic WW2 graffiti on anti-tank cubes along the Tentsmuir stretch of the Fife Coastal Survey. They capture the moment marks were drawn into the fresh concrete.
This cube "The Kiddies" has personal touch: a smiling British soldier in his unmistakable Brodie helmet.
#coastarch
This concrete anti-tank block is covered in WW2 graffiti that includes a smiling British soldier After almost 86 years it is a bit hard to read! This photogrammetry model (thanks to Mike Arrowsmith!) helped to decipher the detail.
July 3, 2026 at 4:20 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
Many clifftop Shetland brochs are either partially eroded or teetering on the edge, giving a sense of the scale of cliff erosion over the last 2000 years.
This photogenic site has been captured over the years in sketches & photos, take a look on Trove.Scot
#coastarch #hessupported #scotarchstrat
December 20, 2025 at 9:53 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
If you encounter a monumental erratic like these ones
at Roy’s Bay, Portmahomack, check if it's named on the historic OS map. Named rocks serve as landmarks for navigation and are often associated with local stories. They blur the lines between natural & cultural heritage.
#HESSupported #CoastArch
April 22, 2025 at 4:21 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
Looking forward to heading up to the beautiful island of Yell, Shetland for coastal surveys with the community 20-24 May and 4-6 June. Join us as we explore this historic coast or get in touch with your knowledge of Yell’s coastal heritage and coastal change #Coastarch #Hessupported #ScotArchStrat
May 15, 2025 at 1:40 PM
coastarch.bsky.social
The final site of our 2024 roundup is the wreck of the James A Wright, off Baile Sear Beach, North Uist. Wrecked in 1877, all 18 of the crew were saved and the ship was sold as salvage. A low tide in March revealed much of the outline of the 150-year-old vessel. #maritimearchaeology #CoastArch
An aerial view of the James A Wright. his is the James A Wright, an American full-rigged merchant ship built in Bath, Maine in 1868. Sailing from Liverpool to Finland when wrecked off Baile Sear in severe westerly gales on the 11th November 1877. All 18 crew were saved. Photo curtesy of David Newman. Volunteers investigate the James A Wright. Volunteers in the hold of the James A Wright. The James A Wright submerged below the Atlantic.
December 24, 2024 at 12:15 AM