Ballin-Smith, B. (2005). Catpund: a prehistoric house in Shetland. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. https://doi.org/10.5284/1017938.

A prehistoric house was excavated in advance of industrial quarrying at Catpund, Shetland. Although little of the internal stratigraphy of the house remained beneath a modern cabbage enclosure (planticrub), the form of the house survived. The artefacts found in and around the house indicate the domestic activities which took place there, and the farming methods employed in the vicinity. A thorough analysis of the artefactual evidence suggests that the house was in use some time during the middle to late Bronze Age. This report considers the structural and environmental evidence for the house together with discussions on its form, the distribution of artefacts and dating.

An oval house appeared as a slightly elevated ring of boulders built on a level knoll of bedrock. Seven phases were identified: phase 1 site preparation; phase 2 construction; phase 3 - use of house; phase 4 - abandonment; phase - re-use; phase 6 - second abandonment; phase 7 - modern features. An undated D-shaped enclosure was found in Trench B while a length of enclosure dyke was found in Trench C.

Most artefacts are stone and include ard points, hand tools, miscellaneous stones, quartz fragments and steatite vessels, along with some ceramic material. There were very few ecofacts and all metal artefacts are recent.

A prehistoric house was excavated in advance of industrial quarrying. Although little of the internal stratigraphy of the house remained beneath a modern cabbage enclosure (planticrub), the form of the house survived. The artefacts found in and around the house indicate the domestic activities which took place there, and the farming methods employed in the vicinity. A thorough analysis of the artefactual evidence suggests that the house was in use some time during the middle to late Bronze Age. The report considers the structural and environmental evidence for the house together with discussions on its form, the distribution of artefacts and dating.