ARCHAEOLOGISTS are hoping they may soon be able to shed light on the past history of mysterious Iron Age ruins in the Highlands.
Geophysical scans of the land around two ancient roundhouses known as brochs have uncovered tantalising evidence they were part of wider settlements.
Brochs date to the first century AD and are unique to Scotland. The stone towers, which can stand several storeys high, have baffled historians for centuries and their exact purpose remains a mystery.
Most have been reduced to mounds of rubble or simple features on the landscape, but some are surprisingly intact given their age.
Scientists and enthusiasts working Bruan Broch, the first site being examined, found evidence of further structures to the southwest and southeast.
They believe this may be evidence of a settlement known as a ‘wag’, which are sometimes associated with former broch sites.
Brochs were once believed to be forts, but that theory has fallen out of favour because they are often built on ground which would not have been defendable.
It has also been suggested that they were the "stately homes" of Iron Age Chiefs, but this has been debunked given the sheer number - more than 500 - which dot the landscape.
Geophysics data from the second site at Thing's Va Broch near Thurso indicated more recent buildings nearby which may be linked to the structure's Norse heritage.
The broch takes its peculiar name from the Viking word for parliament, as it was reused by settlers from Scandinavia when they arrived in the region during the Dark Ages.
Scans also showed an "anomaly" to the northeast of the broch which could represent a burnt mound. A cairn to the south is also being suggested as the site of a substantial roundhouse from the Late Iron Age.
The discoveries were made during work undertaken by the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology and the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute as part of the Caithness Broch Project.
Further archaeological digs will now take place at the two sites in Caithness later this month.
Dan Lee, Lifelong Learning and Outreach Archaeologist at the Archaeology Institute, said: “We are looking forward to finding out more about these two important broch sites.
"The trial trenching, together with geophysics data gathered last month, should help us understand more fully the story of these two important sites.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel