Evidence first
Each record has a named primary source, related reading and an evidence-status note. Links lead to the online item, not an unsourced retelling.
Shetland, 59.8–60.9° north
Trace a Norse past through the surviving evidence.
Explore documented sites, research projects and studies. Every entry links to a verifiable online source and states where interpretation needs care.
78 records
74 mapped places
37 bólstaðr names
129 checked sources
Search works on its own: matching records and places appear in the catalogue and on the map. Use Subject when you want to browse or compare groups.
Interactive map
Evidence across Shetland
Search for a place, object or period, or choose a Subject. Either method filters both the catalogue and map. Place-names & language includes the mapped bólstaðr names. The separate Norse name-elements layer can be switched on below.
SitesSaga placesFindsPlace-names
Name-element filter
523 mechanically grouped OS names
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Terrain map with contours · OpenTopoMap and OpenStreetMap. Coordinates are qualified in each record; the KML download follows the active search and filters.
Catalogue
All records
53 results
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6 verified updates
News & Finds
Recent Shetland-specific discoveries, fieldwork and research updates, linked to the original institutional report or responsible local coverage. A report’s appearance here does not make its archaeological interpretation final.
Last checked 30 September 2026
6 updates
Newest first
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129 checked links
Source library
Primary catalogues, peer-reviewed publications, datasets and trusted institutional resources underpin the atlas. Each source shows the records that use it; broader discovery resources are labelled separately.
Transparent by design
How to read this atlas
This is a research guide, not a claim that every trace of medieval Shetland is straightforwardly “Viking”.
Periods stay qualified
Sites can contain Iron Age, Viking, Norse and later phases. Catalogue wording separates the relevant phase from the history of the whole place.
Coordinates are traceable
Mapped points come from public heritage records or published grid references. The coordinate-status field records that provenance.
Genetics has limits
Population-genetic studies concern modern samples and statistical ancestry. They are contextual evidence, not archaeological proof or cultural labels.
The name-elements layer is a first sort
The Norse name-elements layer plots 523 names from Ordnance Survey Open Names (tiles HP, HT, HU, HZ), grouped by fifteen Old Norse generic elements. Names were sorted mechanically by spelling: one-word names by their ending (Isbister, Girlsta, Lerwick), and two-word names where the generic stands alone (Lunna Ness, Ronas Voe). Farm elements were matched only on OS settlements, and island names only on OS islands. Two-word names built on another place-name (Weisdale Voe) or an English word (Wood Wick) were excluded. The groupings are a first sort, not etymologies. Reconstructed forms are given only for well-established names. OS lists about 300 Shetland settlements, so many farm names are absent.
Editorial standard
Sources are included only when the online record can be checked. Summaries are paraphrased, rights notes are retained, and contested interpretation is labelled rather than flattened.
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