The excavations at Jarlshof, Sumburgh, have now been carried on for a couple of months each summer for the last four years, and a general review of the progress made, and of the results obtained, is now permissible.

The site is a remarkable one, a low promontory which projects into the Sumburgh Voe (as such inlets of the sea are termed in Shetland) on its western shore, on the side of the narrow isthmus which links the lofty headland of Sumburgh Ness, the most southerly point of Shetland, with Mainland, as the principal island is called. Facing towards ‘Fair Isle’, which lies midway between Orkney and Shetland, this would be the first land which any adventurous mariner would make in early times, and thus it comes about that a surprising collection of remains covers the area.