Whitegate Broch

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Whitegate Broch, with Keiss Castle in the background

The Iron Age Whitegate Broch lies between the coast of Sinclairs Bay and the A99 , east of the hamlet of Keiss in Caithness , Scotland .

It is one of 24 brochs in the area that were excavated towards the end of the 19th century by Francis Tress Barry (1825–1907), who uncovered the remainder of the structure visible today, about one meter high. The southeast facing access passage extends through an outer “village” that extends in the southern and eastern quadrants.

The outer diameter of the brochure is almost sixteen meters, with a wall thickness of four meters and an inner diameter of about eight meters. The access passage has no guard cell and there are none of the “normal” galleries or wall niches in the brochure. Tress Barry discovered a platform to the northwest and several subdivisions of the interior. On top of that he found a rectangular structure that was oriented towards the entrance and over the center of the brochure.

These were later constructions, the sequence of which was explored through excavations by Andy Heald in 2006 and 2007. Inside the broch, a flat plate covered a two-meter-deep boat-shaped “well” - in the northwest quadrant covered with organic remains that were removed for investigation.

An excavation that looked for traces of intramural structures revealed a cell with no access in the northeast wall. Bones from several animal species were found in the room along with human bones. This unusual wall cell is so far unique and an examination of its contents and that of the “well” can provide some dates.

A complex of external structures lies within the protective fence around the broch. An excavation examined the area east of the access passage. A stone box was found in the structures . There are also structures outside the fence. They are shown in an aerial photo from 1991. The Broch can be accessed from Keiss along the coastal path. Fresh water was supplied by a stream on the other side of the less well-preserved "Keiss Harbor Broch", which is surprisingly close. There is another brochure unearthed by Francis Tress Barry next to Keiss cemetery. The Nybster Broch is about 2.5 kilometers north on the coast and there is another at the south end of the bay.

literature

  • Heald, A., Barber, J., Henderson, J.: Whitegate, Highland (Wick parish), excavation and survey , Discovery Excavation Scot, Vol. 7, 2006. Dorchester.
  • A. Heald, J. Barber, J. Henderson: Caithness Brochs Project, Highland (Wick parish), excavation , Discovery Excav Scot, New, Vol. 9, 2008. Cathedral Communications Limited, Wiltshire, England.
  • EW MacKie: The Roundhouses, Brochs and Wheelhouses of Atlantic Scotland c.700 BC-AD 500: architecture and material culture, the Northern and Southern Mainland and the Western Islands , BAR British series 444 (II), 444 (1), 2 V ., Oxford 2007, pp. 464-465

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: 58 ° 32 '3 "  N , 3 ° 6' 39"  W.