Birsay

By Danielle R. Christie and Patricia A. Veasey

The Brough of Birsay is a “small tidal island” located at the northwest corner of Orkney. The Orkney Islands are situated off the northern tip of present day Scotland (Graham-Campbell 216). Not only an important area for the Norse settlers in the eleventh and twelfth century, the Brough of Birsay was also an area of importance during the Pictish period. Norse settlements were built directly on top of the old Pictish settlements, which often makes it difficult to distinguish the settlements of the Norse period from the settlements of the Pictish period.

This seal's tooth with runic inscription was found during the excavations of the Brough of Birsay (Image Credit: Fee and Peck 2008)

To further complicate the dating, Norse settlers used the stones from the Pictish settlements in their own new structures. Anna Ritchie talks of the Norse arriving in the Brough of Birsay around the ninth century. After that they settled and continued to grow and develop for three centuries (Ritchie 2). The different artifacts and important religious and political buildings discovered there make the Brough of Birsay one of the most significant places in Scotland, as it links the country to England, Ireland, and the rest of Europe (Ritchie, “Brough” 2). The Brough of Birsay was situated in an exceptional geographic location for trade since it was settled on the northern route.

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Veasey Bibliography

Christie Bibliography