NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Broch

The Broch is an Iron Age dry stone structure of a type which is only found in Scotland. The brochs of Scotland include some of the most sophisticated examples of dry stone architecture ever created. Brochs belong to the classification complex Atlantic Roundhouse devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1152x864, 448 KB) Dun Carloway Broch, Lewis, Scotland. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1152x864, 448 KB) Dun Carloway Broch, Lewis, Scotland. ... Photo of the broch DÃºn ChÃ rlabhaigh or, in English, Dun Carloway is a broch some 2 km to the south-west of Carloway, on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. ... Lewis (Scottish Gaelic: ) or The Isle of Lewis (), is the northern part of the largest island of the Western Isles of Scotland or Outer Hebrides (). The southern part of the island is called Harris (). The two names however refer to the two parts of the same island despite the use... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... This article is about the country. ... It has been suggested that Rock fence be merged into this article or section. ... Atlantic roundhouse is an archaeological term used to describe a family of stone-built Iron Age buildings found in the northern and western parts of mainland Scotland, the Northern Isles and the Hebrides. ...

Origin and distribution

The origin of brochs is a subject of continuing research. Sixty years ago most archaeologists believed that brochs were built by an influx of immigrants who had been displaced and pushed northward first by the intrusions of Belgic tribes into south-east England towards the end of the second century BC and later by the the Roman invasion of southern England from AD 43 onwards. Yet there was never any doubt at any time that the hollow-walled tower was a purely Scottish invention, or that even the kinds of broch pottery that most resembled south English styles were local hybrid forms. The first of the modern review articles on the subject (MacKie 1965)^[1] did not, as is commonly believed, advocate the view that brochs were built by immigrants but rather that a hybrid culture of a small number of immigrants and the native population of the Hebrides produced them in the first century BC from earlier, simpler promontory forts. This view contrasts for example with that of Sir Lindsay Scott who argued^[2] – following Childe (1935)^[3] – for a wholesale migration into Atlantic Scotland of people from south-west England.

Even this 1965 theory has fallen from favour, mainly because – in the 1970s – there was a general move away from any kind of 'diffusionist' explanations in archaeology towards those involving indigenous development. However, the increasing number of radiocarbon dates for the primary use of brochs (as opposed to their later, secondary use) still suggest that most of the towers were built in the 1st centuries BC and AD.^[4] A few such dates may be earlier, though the most potentially important – from Old Scatness broch in Shetland – is still not published. The other broch claimed to be substantially older than the 1st century BC is Crosskirk in Caithness but a new review of the evidence shows that it too cannot plausibly be put back before the 1st centuries BC/AD^[5]^[6]

The distribution of brochs is centred on northern Scotland. Caithness and the Northern Isles have the densest concentrations, but there are also a great many examples in the Hebrides and Sutherland. Caithness (Gallaibh in Gaelic)[1] is a committee area of Highland Council, Scotland; a lieutenancy area; and a registration county, Caithness was formerly a district within the Highland region from 1975 to 1996 and a local government county with its own county council from 1890 to 1975. ... The Northern Isles are a chain of islands off the north coast of Scotland. ... This article is about the Hebrides islands in Scotland. ... Sutherland (Cataibh in Gaelic) is a committee area of the Highland Council, Scotland, a registration county, and a lieutenancy area. ...

Although mainly concentrated in the northern Highlands and the Islands, some examples occur in the borders (for example Edin's Hall Broch), on the west coast of Dumfries and Galloway and near Stirling. This small group of southern brochs has never been satisfactorily explained. Scottish Borders (often referred to locally as The Borders or The Borderland) is one of 35 local government unitary council areas of Scotland. ... Edins Hall Broch is a broch near Duns in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. ... Dumfries and Galloway (DÃ¹n Phris agus an Gall-Ghaidhealaibh in Gaelic) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. ... Broad Street at the heart of Stirlings Old Town area (called Top of the Town by locals) Stirling Castle (Southwest aspect) The main courtyard inside Stirling Castle. ...

Purposes

The original interpretation of brochs, favoured by nineteenth century antiquarians, was that they were defensive structures, places of refuge for the community and their livestock. Image File history File linksMetadata Suisgill. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Suisgill. ... Sutherland (Cataibh in Gaelic) is a committee area of the Highland Council, Scotland, a registration county, and a lieutenancy area. ...

From the 1930s to the 1960s, archaeologists like V. Gordon Childe, Sir Lindsay Scott and John Hamilton^{[citation needed]} regarded them as castles where local landowners held sway over a subject population. Vere Gordon Childe (April 14, 1892 - October 19, 1957) was an Australian archaeologist, perhaps best known for his excavation of the unique Neolithic site of Skara Brae in Orkney and for his Marxist views which informed his thinking about prehistory. ...

These theories fell from favour among Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s, due to a lack of supporting archaeological evidence. These archaeologists suggested that defensibility was never a major concern in the siting of a broch, and have argued that they may have been the "stately homes" of their time, objects of prestige and very visible demonstrations of superiority for important families (Armit 2003). Once again, there is a lack of archaeological proof for this reconstruction. A stately home is, strictly speaking, one of about 500 large properties built in England between the mid-16th century and the early part of the 20th century, as well as converted abbeys and other church property (after the Dissolution of the Monasteries). ...

Brochs' close groupings and sheer numbers in many areas may indeed suggest that they had a primarily defensive or even offensive function. Some of them were sited beside precipitous cliffs and were protected by large ramparts: a good example is at Burland near Gulberwick in Shetland. Often they are at key strategic points. In Shetland they cluster round narrow stretches of water: the broch of Mousa, for instance, is directly opposite another at Burraland in Sandwick. In Orkney there are about a dozen on the facing shores of Eynhallow Sound , and many at the exits and entrances of the great harbour of Scapa Flow. In Sutherland quite a few are placed along the sides and at the mouths of deep valleys. Writing in 1956 John Stewart suggested that brochs were forts put up by a military society to scan and protect the countryside and seas.^[7] Location Geography Area Ranked 12th - Total 1,466 kmÂ² - % Water ? Admin HQ Lerwick ISO 3166-2 GB-ZET ONS code 00RD Demographics Population Ranked 31st - Total (2005) 22,000 - Density 15 / kmÂ² Scottish Gaelic - Total () {{{Scottish council Gaelic Speakers}}} Politics Shetland Islands Council http://www. ... Location Geography Area Ranked 12th - Total 1,466 kmÂ² - % Water ? Admin HQ Lerwick ISO 3166-2 GB-ZET ONS code 00RD Demographics Population Ranked 31st - Total (2005) 22,000 - Density 15 / kmÂ² Scottish Gaelic - Total () {{{Scottish council Gaelic Speakers}}} Politics Shetland Islands Council http://www. ... Mousa is a small island in Shetland, uninhabited since the nineteenth century. ... Location Geography Area Ranked 16th - Total 990 kmÂ² - % Water ? Admin HQ Kirkwall ISO 3166-2 GB-ORK ONS code 00RA Demographics Population Ranked 32nd - Total (2005) 19,590 - Density 20 / kmÂ² Scottish Gaelic - Total () {{{Scottish council Gaelic Speakers}}} Politics Orkney Islands Council http://www. ... It has been suggested that Gutter Sound be merged into this article or section. ... Sutherland (Cataibh in Gaelic) is a committee area of the Highland Council, Scotland, a registration county, and a lieutenancy area. ...

The key difference seems to be between those who regard brochs as an architectural puzzle, and those who consider them as a social-historical problem.

Some archaeologists are now inclined to consider broch sites individually, doubting that there ever was a single common purpose for which every broch was constructed. There are differences between the various areas in which brochs are found, with regard to position, dimensions and likely status. For example, the broch 'villages' which occur at a few places in Orkney have no parallel in the Western Isles. Location Geography Area Ranked 16th - Total 990 kmÂ² - % Water ? Admin HQ Kirkwall ISO 3166-2 GB-ORK ONS code 00RA Demographics Population Ranked 32nd - Total (2005) 19,590 - Density 20 / kmÂ² Scottish Gaelic - Total () {{{Scottish council Gaelic Speakers}}} Politics Orkney Islands Council http://www. ... The Western Isles are an archipelago in Scotland. ...

Structures

Brochs vary from 5 to 15 metres in internal diameter, with 3 metre thick walls. On average, the walls only survive to a few metres; the best examples (Carloway, Telve, Troddan, Mousa and Dornaigil) are up to 13 m tall, however it is not clear whether all brochs originally stood this high. A frequent characteristic is that the walls are galleried (the outer and inner wall skins are separate but tied together with linking stone slabs, with an open space between). These linking slabs may in some cases have served as steps to higher floors. Beside the door, it is normal for there to be a cell breaking off from the passage; this is known as the guard cell. It has been found in some Shetland brochs that guard cells in entrance passageways are close to large door-check stones. Though there was much argument in the past, it is now generally accepted that brochs were roofed, probably with a conical timber framed roof covered with a locally sourced thatch. The evidence for this assertion is still fairly scanty, though excavations at Dun Bharabhat, Lewis, have supported this interpretation. The main difficulty with this interpretation continues to be the potential source of structural timber, though bog and driftwood may have been plentiful sources. Mousa is a small island in Shetland, uninhabited since the nineteenth century. ...

On the islands of Orkney and Shetland there are very few cells at ground floor (American: first floor). However, most brochs have scarcements (ledges) which would have allowed the construction of a very sturdy wooden first floor (first spotted by the antiquary George Low in Shetland in 1774), and excavations at Loch Na Berie on the Isle of Lewis show signs of a further, second floor (eg stairs on the first floor, which head up). Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (2272 Ã— 1704 pixel, file size: 716 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Remains of the broch at Feranach, taken by myself. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (2272 Ã— 1704 pixel, file size: 716 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Remains of the broch at Feranach, taken by myself. ... Sutherland (Cataibh in Gaelic) is a committee area of the Highland Council, Scotland, a registration county, and a lieutenancy area. ... Location Geography Area Ranked 16th - Total 990 kmÂ² - % Water ? Admin HQ Kirkwall ISO 3166-2 GB-ORK ONS code 00RA Demographics Population Ranked 32nd - Total (2005) 19,590 - Density 20 / kmÂ² Scottish Gaelic - Total () {{{Scottish council Gaelic Speakers}}} Politics Orkney Islands Council http://www. ... Location Geography Area Ranked 12th - Total 1,466 kmÂ² - % Water ? Admin HQ Lerwick ISO 3166-2 GB-ZET ONS code 00RD Demographics Population Ranked 31st - Total (2005) 22,000 - Density 15 / kmÂ² Scottish Gaelic - Total () {{{Scottish council Gaelic Speakers}}} Politics Shetland Islands Council http://www. ... Floor numbering in a building can cause misunderstandings between speakers of different varieties of the English language. ... Location Geography Area Ranked 12th - Total 1,466 kmÂ² - % Water ? Admin HQ Lerwick ISO 3166-2 GB-ZET ONS code 00RD Demographics Population Ranked 31st - Total (2005) 22,000 - Density 15 / kmÂ² Scottish Gaelic - Total () {{{Scottish council Gaelic Speakers}}} Politics Shetland Islands Council http://www. ...

Brochs were sometimes (e.g. Old Scatness in Shetland) located close to arable land and a source of water (some have deep wells or natural springs rising within their central space). Sometimes, on the other hand, they were sited in wilderness areas (e.g. Levenwick and Culswick in Shetland, Castle Cole in Sutherland). Brochs are often built beside the sea; sometimes they are on islands in lochs (e.g. Clickimin in Shetland). Old Scatness is an archaeological site, consisting of mediaeval, Viking, Pictish, and Bronze Age remains. ... Location Geography Area Ranked 12th - Total 1,466 kmÂ² - % Water ? Admin HQ Lerwick ISO 3166-2 GB-ZET ONS code 00RD Demographics Population Ranked 31st - Total (2005) 22,000 - Density 15 / kmÂ² Scottish Gaelic - Total () {{{Scottish council Gaelic Speakers}}} Politics Shetland Islands Council http://www. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Culswick Broch is an unexcavated coastal broch in the Shetland Islands of Scotland at . It has commanding and beautiful views all around, including Foula and Vaila isles, and Fitful Head in the south. ... Location Geography Area Ranked 12th - Total 1,466 kmÂ² - % Water ? Admin HQ Lerwick ISO 3166-2 GB-ZET ONS code 00RD Demographics Population Ranked 31st - Total (2005) 22,000 - Density 15 / kmÂ² Scottish Gaelic - Total () {{{Scottish council Gaelic Speakers}}} Politics Shetland Islands Council http://www. ... Sutherland (Cataibh in Gaelic) is a committee area of the Highland Council, Scotland, a registration county, and a lieutenancy area. ... A loch is the name given to a body of water in Scotland or Ireland. ... Clickimin broch is a small, lakeside broch in Lerwick, Shetland. ... Location Geography Area Ranked 12th - Total 1,466 kmÂ² - % Water ? Admin HQ Lerwick ISO 3166-2 GB-ZET ONS code 00RD Demographics Population Ranked 31st - Total (2005) 22,000 - Density 15 / kmÂ² Scottish Gaelic - Total () {{{Scottish council Gaelic Speakers}}} Politics Shetland Islands Council http://www. ...

Most brochs are unexcavated, but most of those that have been properly examined do show that they continued in use for many centuries - although the interiors were often modified and changed, and they underwent many phases of habitation and abandonment. The end of the broch period par excellence seems to have come around AD 200-300.

Good examples of brochs to visit are Mousa Broch (the walls here are well preserved, standing some 13 m high), Clickimin, Levenwick and Culswick in Shetland; Dun Carloway on Lewis; Burroughston Broch, Gurness Broch and Midhowe in Orkney; while the tallest standing examples on the mainland are Dun Troddan and Dun Telve (both in Glenelg), Ousdale broch in Caithness and Dun Dornaigil in Sutherland. Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 578 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 578 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Glenelg-Kylerhea ferry Glenelg is a quiet village in western Scotland. ... Mousa Broch is the finest example of a Broch in Shetland, and one of the finest examples of an Iron Age round tower or broch in the world. ... Clickimin broch is a small, lakeside broch in Lerwick, Shetland. ... Culswick Broch is an unexcavated coastal broch in the Shetland Islands of Scotland at . It has commanding and beautiful views all around, including Foula and Vaila isles, and Fitful Head in the south. ... Location Geography Area Ranked 12th - Total 1,466 kmÂ² - % Water ? Admin HQ Lerwick ISO 3166-2 GB-ZET ONS code 00RD Demographics Population Ranked 31st - Total (2005) 22,000 - Density 15 / kmÂ² Scottish Gaelic - Total () {{{Scottish council Gaelic Speakers}}} Politics Shetland Islands Council http://www. ... Photo of the broch DÃºn ChÃ rlabhaigh or, in English, Dun Carloway is a broch some 2 km to the south-west of Carloway, on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. ... Lewis (Scottish Gaelic: ) or The Isle of Lewis (), is the northern part of the largest island of the Western Isles of Scotland or Outer Hebrides (). The southern part of the island is called Harris (). The two names however refer to the two parts of the same island despite the use... Burroughston Broch is an Iron Age archaeological site on the island of Shapinsay within the Orkney Islands. ... Location Geography Area Ranked 16th - Total 990 kmÂ² - % Water ? Admin HQ Kirkwall ISO 3166-2 GB-ORK ONS code 00RA Demographics Population Ranked 32nd - Total (2005) 19,590 - Density 20 / kmÂ² Scottish Gaelic - Total () {{{Scottish council Gaelic Speakers}}} Politics Orkney Islands Council http://www. ... Glenelg-Kylerhea ferry Glenelg is a quiet village in western Scotland. ... Caithness (Gallaibh in Gaelic)[1] is a committee area of Highland Council, Scotland; a lieutenancy area; and a registration county, Caithness was formerly a district within the Highland region from 1975 to 1996 and a local government county with its own county council from 1890 to 1975. ... Sutherland (Cataibh in Gaelic) is a committee area of the Highland Council, Scotland, a registration county, and a lieutenancy area. ...

The Shetland Amenity Trust list about 120 sites in Shetland as candidate brochs, perhaps an overestimate, while The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Scotland identify a total of 571 candidate broch sites throughout the country. Location Geography Area Ranked 12th - Total 1,466 kmÂ² - % Water ? Admin HQ Lerwick ISO 3166-2 GB-ZET ONS code 00RD Demographics Population Ranked 31st - Total (2005) 22,000 - Density 15 / kmÂ² Scottish Gaelic - Total () {{{Scottish council Gaelic Speakers}}} Politics Shetland Islands Council http://www. ...

The skills involved in broch building are currently being explored by drystone dyker Irwin Campbell, and AOC Archaeology Ltd, based in Edinburgh.

Contents

Origin and distribution

Purposes

Structures

See also

References and footnotes

Further reading

External links

Contents

Origin and distribution GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Purposes

Structures

See also

References and footnotes

Further reading

External links

Origin and distribution