Broch from Nybster
The excavations at Nybster Broch took place in 2011. The Broch is close to the sea on a headland on the east coast of Scotland , north of Wick in Caithness . Nybster Broch is close to the Caithness Broch Center and is one of the most easily accessible in Northern Scotland. Brochs are iron-age drywall structures found only in Scotland .
Brochs are commonly associated with the Hebrides , Orkney and Shetland Islands , but the largest concentration with more than 200 of the approximately 700 Scottish brochs are in Caithness.
Relatively few brochs have been excavated on the Scottish mainland in recent years. The Nybster Broch was excavated in the late 19th century by landowner Francis Tress Barry. Little data remains from this action, in the form of paintings by John Nicolson (1891–1951) and photographs. Tress Barry was a pioneer in the use of photography in archaeological digs. He was primarily interested in the arrangement of the buildings, which he examined by digging along the recognizable structures.
Preliminary investigations in 2005 showed that the massive, eight-meter-thick walls were solidly built without cells, galleries or stairs. Thus, according to I. Armit and Euan Wallace MacKie, the broch belongs to the category of simple Atlantic brochs. With a diameter of around five meters, the Broch has a comparatively small interior. The relationship between the masonry and the interior appears completely absurd for an Iron Age complex. It is possible that the structure was considerable in height, but from what remains, it is impossible to prove it.
The excavations showed that the development of the square began with a stone wall that closed off the headland. The primary structure, which is only 2.5 m wide, was then integrated into an approximately five-meter-thick wall that lies behind a deep trench carved into the rock. In this phase, the original passage through the wall was destroyed in order to integrate a new access with a guard cell into the wall. This cell had a paved floor and was accessible from the interior via a staircase that leads up to the wall and from there down into the cell. A millstone is built into the wall of the cell . A narrow passage was built behind the wall using vertical slabs. If it was closed, it also blocked the stairs, which have a stone swivel element in the lower area.
The construction of the wall and its collapse were explored near the southern edge of the promontory. The wall section lies on the bedrock and the entry of stones from the higher layers of the wall was clearly visible in the excavation section. The size of the construction parts, the hewn bedrock and the massive stone blocks became visible. After the wall collapsed, stone boxes were inserted into the remains of the complex. The deepest breach that has been made for a stone box goes through the secondary wall down to the primary wall. These boxes may have contained Pictish or Viking burials, but these did not survive. An egg-shaped pendant made of serpentine was discovered in a backfill from this phase.
The excavations also concerned the cell-like buildings near the easternmost point of the headland. Buildings of this kind are seen as evidence of a Pictish reuse of the Iron Age brochs. One of the largest buildings (OB4) and two smaller buildings (OB2E) and (OB2W) were examined.
Inside OB4, Tress Barry's work from the 1890s could be seen along the walls. Examination of the remaining floor areas revealed various paved areas and a number of fire pits. Some fireplaces showed signs of multiple uses. In OB2W a fireplace in the form of a stone slab, surrounded by a circle of egg-shaped beach pebbles, was discovered. It appears that Tress Barry discovered the stove and left it in situ . A few larger fireplaces, triangular and rectangular, were taken by Tress Barry. The oval building OB4 has one cell at the northeast and one at the southwest end. The paving of these cells and some paving stones at the southern end of the building were recorded in the hope of finding datable material underneath. A whalebone object under the southern cell and small pieces of bone under the plates inside were discovered. A collapsed stack of plates in one corner of OB2E hid several layers of burned material. The presence of animal bones, fish bones, stone tools, pot shards and the fragment of a Roman glass suggest that this find is related to a Køkkenmøddinger (English midden ). This find lay over a layer of thermally damaged slabs and at least partially within a stone arch under which there were further layers of burned material.
The Nybster Broch is listed as a Scheduled Monument . The Whitegate Broch is about 2.5 km south.
Individual evidence
literature
- Ian Armit: Towers in the North. The Brochs of Scotland . Tempus, Stroud 2003, ISBN 0-7524-1932-3 .
- Ian Armit: Broch Building in Northern Scotland. The context of innovation . In: World Archeology 21 ( Architectural Innovation ), 1990, 3, ISSN 0043-8243 , pp. 435-445.
Web links
- Excavation description
- with aerial photo
- Description Engl. Picture and sketch
- Entry on Nybster Broch in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland database
Coordinates: 58 ° 33 ′ 6.3 " N , 3 ° 5 ′ 2" W.