logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2023
45m 11s

Shetland: Edge of the Prehistoric World

History Hit
About this episode

Over 100 miles further than the northern reaches of Britain, beyond Orkney, are a remote group of islands that make up Shetland. It’s one of the best kept secrets of prehistoric Scotland, containing evidence of the lives that were lived there some 5,000 years ago. With Viking archeology as well as prehistoric remains, it's a one of a kind insight into the past.


In today’s episode, Tristan talks to Dr Val Turner, one of Shetland's regional archaeologists. Together they take us to this edge of the prehistoric world, to find out about what life on these distant islands would have been like. From the axe factories that were discovered there, to the incredible Iron Age skyscrapers that are the brochs, what can we learn about this remote part of the world?


Senior Producer was Elena Guthrie. The Assistant Producer was Annie Coloe. Edited by Stuart Beckwith.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
Alexander the Great's Mad Scientist
WARNING: graphic descriptions of violence and warfareMeet Diades, Alexander the Great’s overlooked military engineer, the man who made the impossible siege of Tyre happen.Tristan Hughes and Professor Edmund Richardson retell the thrilling, brutal, brilliant story of invention, am ... Show More
1h 12m
Jul 26
Hollywood’s Odyssey: The Historians' Verdict
Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film Odyssey brings Homer’s epic roaring back to life and Tristan Hughes and Dr. Emily Hauser are here to unpack every storm, monster and star-making turn. From the brilliance of the adaptation to the ancient story beneath it, Tristan and Emily bri ... Show More
1h 10m
Jul 23
The First New Zealanders
What if the first New Zealanders crossed an ocean, landed in a brand-new world, and built a whole society in just a few generations?Tristan Hughes and Dr Richard Walter tell the story of East Polynesian voyagers who reached Aotearoa around the late 1200s, bringing canoes, knowled ... Show More
56m 31s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2020
The Stone Age
Join Greg Jenner in The Stone Age and meet the Neolithic people of Skara Brae - a perfectly preserved ancient settlement discovered in the Orkney Islands, which can still be seen today.Presented by Greg Jenner Produced by Abi Paterson Script by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch and Emma Na ... Show More
14m 21s
Oct 2024
Your Prehistoric Ancestors: More Sophisticated than you think!
<p><em>Check out my new podcast 'Transatlantic: An Irish American History Podcast' with Damian Shiels https://linktr.ee/transatlanticpod</em></p><br><p>In this captivating episode, I explore the enigmatic world of prehistoric Ireland. I am joined by Professor Gabriel Cooney to di ... Show More
31m 16s
Jun 2022
HS2: Digging up the 'Dark Ages'
<p>An extraordinary discovery has been unearthed by archaeologists working alongside the HS2 rail project. The find, made at an undisclosed location near Wendover in the Chilterns, consists of a 5th-6th century burial site that has been described as one of the most important post ... Show More
1h 5m
Jun 2019
6. Easter Island - Where Giants Walked
On one of the world’s most isolated islands, hundreds of vast stone statues lie mouldering in the grass. In this episode, we take a look at one of archaeology’s most enduring puzzles: the mystery of Easter Island. Find out how this unique community grew up in complete isolation, ... Show More
1h 43m
Nov 2023
Life on the Medieval Coast
<p>The popular BBC television series <em>Villages by the Sea</em> explores coastal life through the centuries. Its presenter Ben Robinson is an archaeologist with the fantastic job of exploring lost villages and uncovering their secrets, including those that give an insight into ... Show More
41m 8s
Nov 2018
Vol 1 Ep 20 - Megaliths, Part Two ( Stonehenge )
This week's podcast centres around Stonehenge, but in order to try to understand this most famous of megaliths, we discuss the Neolithic wonders of the Orkney Islands and the Carnac Stones of Brittany. 
38m 12s
Jun 2019
Doggerland
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the people, plants and animals once living on land now under the North Sea, now called Doggerland after Dogger Bank, inhabited up to c7000BC or roughly 3000 years before the beginnings of Stonehenge. There are traces of this landscape at low tide, ... Show More
54m 2s
Jul 2017
AT#567 - Travel to the Hebrides in Scotland
Hear about travel to The Hebrides as the Amateur Traveler talks to Matt Higgs about his trip to these remote islands in Scotland. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 
53 m
Jul 2023
Lost Vikings of Greenland
<p>Is there a lost colony of Vikings somewhere in Greenland, shut off from the rest of the world?&nbsp;For hundreds of years, that question has taxed many minds for a variety of reasons that often reflect changes in outlook.</p><br><p>In this episode of <em>Gone Medieval</em>, Ma ... Show More
34m 36s
Apr 2023
Sutton Hoo
<p>Centuries ago, an Anglo-Saxon noble was buried within a 90-foot ship in a mound at Sutton Hoo. It serves as the richest burial ever found in northern Europe to date. Discovered in 1939, not much survived of the original ship. However, an imprint of the ship remains on the eart ... Show More
32m 20s