Dr. Nigel Melton

They passed the well-preserved specimen on to Nigel Melton, of University of Bradford, who has now received the results of carbon dating showing it had been around since 5,500BC. Now Dr Melton hopes Lerwick Port Authority can provide core samples to show at what depth the wood was found to help him understand the rate of sea level changes since the Ice Age.

"That part of Bressay sound was dry land 7,500 years ago.These trees were growing at some stage and then were inundated by sea level rise.Now we have a date, we know that it was land at that point," Dr Melton said.

Nigel Melton
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Nigel Melton

Research Fellow for the department of archaeological sciences, Dr Nigel Melton said, "This project gives us a unique opportunity to carry out analyses using modern techniques on the material from the Gristhorpe excavation, which have remained unstudied since the 1830s."

Nigel Melton
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Nigel Melton
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Nigel Melton

On the historical front, Nigel Melton of the University of Bradford keeps us up to date with Investigations at West Voe, Sumburgh, at Shetland's earliest known archaeological site.

Dr Nigel MeltonResearch Fellow