Categories: Technology

Google Earth imagery update helps uncover part of Scotland’s hidden heritage

Broch of Gurness: One of the most outstanding examples of Iron Age settlement

The Google Earth and Google Maps team published an imagery update earlier today which, as usual, contains some really interesting sites. Ireland is not featured is this update, but large parts of Scotland and England, among others, are.

In recent years Google Earth has become an increasingly invaluable service that allows heritage enthusiasts to remotely explore sites of historic interest or significance; and Scotland is full of them. With a history famed in martial story, Scotland has many great castles and abbeys, examples of Iron Age settlements and Norse invasion.

With the new imagery update, many of these site can now be explored for the first time using Google Earth. We’ve included a few below,

Broch of Gurness: One of the most outstanding examples of Iron Age settlement

Jarlshof Norse settlement: With over 4,000 years of human settlement the site provides great insights to live during the late Bronze Age, the Iron Age, Pictish era, Norse era and the Middle Ages

Ness of Burgi: An Iron Age defensive stone-built blockhouse

Scalloway Castle: A castellated mansion built by Patrick Stewart, Earl of Orkney, in 1600

Staneydale 'Temple': A Neolithic hall containing a large oval chamber, surrounding by ruins of houses, walls and cairns built during the same period

Brough of Birsay: Remains of a busy Pictish and Norse settlement

You can download this KML file which, when opened in Google Earth, outlines exactly what regions have been recently updated.

Albizu Garcia

Albizu Garcia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Gain -- a marketing technology company that automates the social media and content publishing workflow for agencies and social media managers, their clients and anyone working in teams.