Broch from Castle Craig

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The Broch of Castle Craig is in a Hill Fort in Auchterarder in Perth and Kinross in Scotland .

Research history

Castle Craig has been studied since 1978 as part of a Hillfort research program. A few small trenches were used to explore the facility, which had been damaged by a quarry. Although there was evidence of settlement on the site, no dating was obtained and the large enclosure on the summit initially remained unexplored. Therefore, in 2011, five small trenches were dug over the site and the top of the hill.

Found location

A massive brochure was discovered on the hill . This was amazing in two ways:

  1. Brochs are common in Scotland, but well-preserved “Lowland examples” are rare. Places that reflect the development of a hill fort from the Roman occupation to the creation of the Kingdom of Scotland are even rarer .
  2. Although the broch was deliberately burned down, the first floor appears to have more or less completely survived. Numerous finds of Roman merchandise and indigenous Iron Age artifacts from the 1st or 2nd century AD were made in the rubble of the filling compound . In addition, the Broch location seems to have been in use in post-Roman times.

The Broch

The round brochure is on the hill. With an outer diameter of 23 m and an inner diameter of 12.5 m, it is a respectable size. The five-meter-thick walls are still over 1.5 m high. The entrance was on the southwest side. Opposite a cell was built into the wall, from which perhaps a staircase led to the upper level. The walls were built from large, regular blocks of local rock material. The amount of rubble indicates that it was originally at least two stories high.

Finds

The heavily burned deposits of burnt clay, charcoal and stones contained numerous small finds. These include a stone lamp and spindle whorl , a bone, a weaving comb, fragments of a slate bangle and various iron objects, including a sickle. Thus the typical contemporary domestic artifacts are represented.

Fragments of three glass bracelets, three glass vessels and four bronze bracelets as well as other bronze objects were mixed with Roman merchandise. Intact objects are beads made of glass and amber . Above this level were a number of stones that had fallen from the upper levels of the brochure. In addition to charcoal and burned material, this layer also contained a bronze Roman patera , broken pieces of glass and some burned mammal bones. The layer represents the time when the broch was deliberately destroyed. There were other lines of fortifications below the summit. Impressive is a ditch carved into the rock, at least 1.9 m deep, which was probably filled with rubble from the broch.

The second phase

A low earth and stone wall about 28 m in diameter was built on the filled broch. The excavation identified at least two post holes within the rampart, suggesting that it had a wooden palisade. The palisade and a Nordic ring needle made of bronze could indicate a use in the 9th or 10th century. Towards the base of the hill are more earth and stone walls that define the perimeter of the hill fort.

See also

literature

  • Ian Armit: Towers in the North: The Brochs of Scotland. Stroud: Tempus 2003.
  • Graham Ritchie: Brochs of Scotland. Princes Risborough, Shire Archeology 1988, ISBN 0747803897
  • H. James: Castle Craig: SERF, Perth and Kinross (Auchterarder parish), excavation ', Discovery Excav Scot, New, Vol. 12, Cathedral Communications Limited, Wiltshire, England 2011. pp. 144-145
  • H. James: Auchterarder, Castle Craig: SERF, Excavation, Discovery Excav Scot, New, Vol. 13, 2012. Cathedral Communications Limited, Wiltshire, England.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Brochs are round, windowless towers that can be found in Scotland , especially in Caithness , but also on the offshore islands ( Hebrides , Orkney , and Shetlands ). In total, the remains of around 500 brochs were found.

Web links

Coordinates: 56 ° 17 ′ 45.9 "  N , 3 ° 39 ′ 22.3"  W.