The sands of Breckon, Yell, Shetland: archaeological survey and excavation in an area of eroding windblown sand

The Sands of Breckon on the north coast of Yell, in Shetland, has been the site of archaeological discoveries since the 1860s.In 1982, in response to continuing erosion of the sands, an archaeological survey was commissioned by (SDD) Historic Buildings and Monuments, now Historic Scotland.This provided the first comprehensive account of the archaeology of the area and prompted a series of small-scale excavations in the following year, also funded by SDD-HBM.The survey and excavation demonstrated that the Sands of Breckon has seen human activity since prehistoric times, including Iron Age burial; and that medieval and later activity is concentrated on higher ground to the south-east.The paper concludes with a discussion of the difficulties of interpreting stratigraphic evidence in an area of sand deposits subject to cycles of accumulation and deflation.