Broch from Ousdale
The Broch of Ousdale ( English Ousdale Burn ) is a well-preserved brochure in Caithness , Scotland , with intramural niches and a staircase. A few areas of the outer wall are visible, inside it reaches a height of about 4.0 m. The entrance, covered by a mighty fall , is in the southwest. The Broch is located high above the Ousdale (valley) near the confluence of the brook running on the Broch with the Ousdale Burn and is accessible from a rest area on the A9 (500 m).
description
With a wall thickness of 4.5 m, the outside diameter is about 16.5 m, and the inside diameter is about 7.4 m. The access passage has in the east wall of an oval guard cell ( English guard-cell ). Two further niches, which have narrow entrances from the center from the inside, are located in the west wall. The southwest is very small. The northwest is the access to a staircase that climbs clockwise. A cornice is located about 2.5 m above the ground, similar to that in the Kintradwell Broch . A gallery above the entrance may have been a relief opening.
A fence surrounds the tower in the northwest, where the remains of several houses are 200 m away. There are three long cairns in between.
A human skeleton was found upside down in a small opening above the stairs when the brochure was excavated in 1891. A central fireplace and stone containers built into the ground were found.
literature
- Ian Armit: Towers in the North: The Brochs of Scotland. Stroud: Tempus 2003.
- Ian Armit: Broch Building in Northern Scotland: The Context of Innovation. In: World Archeology. Vol. 21, No. 3 = Architectural Innovation , 1990, ISSN 0043-8243 , pp. 435-445, JSTOR 124840 .
- JNG Ritchie: Brochs of Scotland . Princes Risborough, Shire Archeology secund edition 1998, ISBN 0-7478-0389-7 p. 47
Web links
- Description Engl. Picture and sketch
- The guard cell
- Entry on Ousdale's Broch in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland's database
Coordinates: 58 ° 8 ′ 54.3 " N , 3 ° 34 ′ 45.8" W.