About the Project
Bronze Age Bressay! is an ambitious and innovative project to reconstruct an eroding Bronze Age site on the island of Bressay, Shetland. The site, the Burnt Mound at Cruester, sits on the coast facing Shetland's capital, Lerwick. A previous excavation in 2000 revealed an impressive array of stone cells, together with a large hearth, a cistern, a stone tank and a sloping chute or passageway. These had all been built into a mound, formed from discarded stones that had been heated and then plunged into water.
Burnt mounds with structures within them are very rare, and this is one of only a handful of known examples. The Bressay History Group have monitored continued erosion of the structures since the excavation, and as the site was threatened by the sea, they approached the Adopt-a-Monument Scheme and The SCAPE Trust in the hope that something might be done to preserve what remained. A project team was formed and funding was secured from a number of sources.
Team members planning the project at the eroding site
The project will run through June and July 2008 and will involve the excavation and dismantling of the site, which will then be transported to Bressay’s Heritage Centre where it will be reconstructed. The rebuilt structure will be fully functioning and used as a centre for experimental work into these enigmatic structures. Volunteers will be trained in drystone walling and a range of archaeological techniques. The finished site will be interpreted for the public with an on-site information panel, a leaflet, and a permanent exhibition at the Heritage Centre. The work will be accompanied by a twelve month education programme led by Bressay History Group and involving the local school and volunteers from all over Shetland. Events will include Open Days, a series of talks, Experimental Archaeology days and the addition of material to this website.
The reconstruction will be open to the public and there will be information available, both at the reconstructed site and within the Heritage Centre. There will also be an education and outreach programme, which will include ancient technology workshops (including pottery making), experimental firings, re-enactments and public lectures.