- Chapter Five -
Heidetrank near Frankfurt-am-Main in the Taunus, Germany; Maier 1985). There are
clear intimations in such practices (and others, including the frequency of gates) that
defensive requirements were not of paramount significance.
Another indication of this non-military dimension is provided from the northern
extremity of the range. The Shetland blockhouses, in themselves elaborate construc-
tions, none the less fail to isolate the promontories on which they are set, as at Ness
of Burgi. Here, even allowing for erosion over the intervening millennia, the block-
house is out of all proportion to the area thus enclosed (Figure 5.9). It is perhaps
not altogether fanciful to see such features as platforms for display, by individuals,
bombastic or otherwise, or of trophies.
Figure 5.9 Aerial photo of Ness of Burgi promontory fort and blockhouse
(showing cells), Shetland Islands, Scotland. The rectangular area of stonework is modern.
(Copyright: RCAHMS.)74