Three Iron Age Settlements In Shetland Running To Win UNESCO World Heritage Status

Three iron age settlements in Shetland are in the running to win Unesco World Heritage status.

Collectively known as the Zenith of Iron Age Shetland, they are among five sites put forward by the UK government to join the prestigious list.

If successful, they will join Stonehenge, Hadrian’s Wall and Australia’s Great Barrier Reef as world heritage sites, considered to be of “outstanding value to humanity”.

The Zenith of Iron Age Shetland includes the settlements and surviving structures of Mousa, Old Scatness and Jarlshof.

Built in stone by the inhabitants of the largely treeless islands, they are described as the “zenith of prehistoric architectural achievement in Northern Europe” in a submission published on the UNESCO website.