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Wind power is seen by many as a key industry for the future: an environmentally benign renewable energy to replace fossil fuels. The Northern and Western Isles, with their high average wind speeds, would seem to be well placed to exploit this rapidly emerging demand. As well as meeting a global need, to reduce output of greenhouse gases and a national need for security of supply into the twenty-first century, wind power promises an economic future for rural regions whose prospects are otherwise uncertain. However, this benign scenario is marred by potentially serious negative consequences for local environmental systems, landscape aesthetics and archaeology, which are themselves often of national and international importance. With particular reference to proposed projects in Lewis and Shetland, this paper will consider the competing demands from national and local policy on the location of wind farms, and weaknesses in the current planning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents new chronological data applied to the problem of providing a date for the construction of a prehistoric building, with a case study from the Old Scatness Broch, Shetland. The innovative methodology employed utilises the combination of radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates with the archaeological information, which includes the stratigraphic relationships of sampled deposits, context information, and evidence relating to the formation of the deposit. This paper discusses the scientific validity of the dates produced, and the advantages that the methodology employed at this site offers for archaeological interpretation. The combined dating evidence suggests that the broch at Old Scatness is earlier than the conventionally accepted dates for broch construction. More broadly it shows the value of integration of the specialists at the planning stages of the excavation. The application of a Bayesian statistical model to the sequences of dates allowed investigation of the robustness of the dates within the stratigraphic sequences, as well as increasing the resolution of the resulting chronology. In addition, the value of utilising multiple dating techniques on the same deposit was demonstrated, as this allowed different dated events to be directly compared as well as issues relating to the formation of the sampled deposit. This in turn impacted on the chronological significance of the resulting dating evidence, and therefore the confidence that could be placed in the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron Age studies in northern Britain have been dominated by one monument form, the broch. This focus on these monumental towers of the Atlantic Scotland, perhaps at the expense of other archaeological evidence, has brought about a strong division in the archaeological community. MacKie and Armit have both recently summarized the development of broch studies detailing the opposing arguments for the date of construction. In recent years archaeological evidence for these monuments has indicated an indigenous development rather than being associated with the movement of Iron Age peoples. This paper presents new chronological data for the construction of a Shetland broch and examines the archaeological repercussions for the 'early' chronology provided by these dates. Excavations at Old Scatness in the South Mainland of Shetland have revealed new evidence for a broch and defended Iron Age Village. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article talks about studies on the archaeology of the Norse North Atlantic. The biological anthropology's long research history in the Norse North Atlantic and the continuous research work conducted regarding its archaeology are discussed. Current research on this archaeology are discussed, including the problem of the tell-like farm mounds in arctic Norway, the systematic Norse archaeology in the Shetland Islands, the cereal agriculture in Orkney, and the nature of the culture contact and transformation in Celtic north Scotland.