In archaeology, a broch is an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure found in Scotland. Brochs belong to the classification "complex Atlantic roundhouse" devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s.
A crannog is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes and estuarine waters of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were built on the shores and not inundated until later, crannogs were built in the water, thus forming artificial islands.
Jarlshof is the best-known prehistoric archaeological site in Shetland, Scotland. It lies in Sumburgh, Mainland, Shetland and has been described as "one of the most remarkable archaeological sites ever excavated in the British Isles". It contains remains dating from 2500 BC up to the 17th century AD.
Broch of Mousa is a preserved Iron Age broch or round tower. It is on the island of Mousa in Shetland, Scotland. It is the tallest broch still standing and amongst the best-preserved prehistoric buildings in Europe. It is thought to have been constructed c. 300 BC, and is one of more than 500 brochs built in Scotland. The site is managed by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument.
A roundhouse is a type of house with a circular plan, usually with a conical roof. In the later part of the 20th century, modern designs of roundhouse eco-buildings were constructed with materials such as cob, cordwood or straw bale walls and reciprocal frame green roofs.
The Broch of Clickimin is a large, well-preserved but restored broch in Lerwick, Shetland, Scotland. Originally built on an island in Clickimin Loch, it was approached by a stone causeway. The broch is situated within a walled enclosure and, unusually for brochs, features a large "forework" or "blockhouse" between the opening in the enclosure and the broch itself. The site is maintained by Historic Scotland. According to its excavator, John R.C. Hamilton, there were several periods of occupation of the site: Late Bronze Age farmstead, Early Iron Age farmstead, Iron Age fort, broch period, and wheelhouse settlement.
Old Scatness is an archeological site on Scat Ness, near the village of Scatness, in the parish of Dunrossness in the south end of Mainland, Shetland, Scotland, near Sumburgh Airport. It consists of medieval, Viking, Pictish, and Iron Age remains and has been a settlement for thousands of years, each new generation adding buildings, and levelling off old ones. Among the discoveries is an Iron Age broch, the Ness of Burgi fort.
This timeline of prehistoric Scotland is a chronologically ordered list of important archaeological sites in Scotland and of major events affecting Scotland's human inhabitants and culture during the prehistoric period. The period of prehistory prior to occupation by the genus Homo is part of the geology of Scotland. Prehistory in Scotland ends with the arrival of the Romans in southern Scotland in the 1st century AD and the beginning of written records. The archaeological sites and events listed are the earliest examples or among the most notable of their type.
Dun Ringill is an Iron Age hill fort on the Strathaird peninsula on the island of Skye, Scotland. Further fortified in the Middle Ages, tradition holds that it was for several centuries the seat of Clan MacKinnon. It is located east of Kirkibost on the west shore of Loch Slapin.
In archaeology, a wheelhouse is a prehistoric structure from the Iron Age found in Scotland. The term was first coined after the discovery of a ruined mound in 1855. The distinctive architectural form related to the complex roundhouses constitute the main settlement type in the Western Isles in the closing centuries BC. A total of 62 sites have now been identified in the Northern and Western Isles, and on the north coast of Caithness and Sutherland.
Prehistoric Orkney refers only to the prehistory of the Orkney archipelago of Scotland that begins with human occupation. Although some records referring to Orkney survive that were written during the Roman invasions of Scotland, “prehistory” in northern Scotland is defined as lasting until the start of Scotland's Early Historic Period.
Harlosh is a settlement on the island of Skye off the west coast of Scotland. The settlement is on a peninsula of the same name.
Rubha an Dùnain or Rubh' an Dùnain is an uninhabited peninsula to the south of the Cuillin hills on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It contains unique archaeological sites which in 2017 were designated as a historic monument of national importance by Historic Environment Scotland.
Euan Wallace MacKie was a British archaeologist and anthropologist. He was a prominent figure in the field of Archaeoastronomy.
The architecture of Scotland in the prehistoric era includes all human building within the modern borders of Scotland, before the arrival of the Romans in Britain in the first century BCE. Stone Age settlers began to build in wood in what is now Scotland from at least 8,000 years ago. The first permanent houses of stone were constructed around 6,000 years ago, as at Knap of Howar, Orkney and settlements like Skara Brae. There are also large numbers of chambered tombs and cairns from this era, particularly in the west and north. In the south and east there are earthen barrows, often linked to timber monuments of which only remnants remain. Related structures include bank barrows, cursus monuments, mortuary enclosures and timber halls. From the Bronze Age there are fewer new buildings, but there is evidence of crannogs, roundhouses built on artificial islands and of Clava cairns and the first hillforts. From the Iron Age there is evidence of substantial stone Atlantic roundhouses, which include broch towers, smaller duns. There is also evidence of about 1,000 hillforts in Scotland, most located below the Clyde-Forth line.
Dun an Sticir is an Iron Age broch situated approximately 9.5 kilometers north of Lochmaddy in a loch on North Uist in the Scottish Outer Hebrides. A building was erected on the site in the late medieval period.
Ousdale Broch, also known as Ousdale Burn or Allt a’ Bhurg Broch, is an Iron Age broch located between the villages of Helmsdale and Berriedale in Caithness, Scotland.
Dun Fiadhairt is an Iron Age broch located on the north coast of the island of Skye, in Scotland.
Broch of Inshlampie is an Iron Age broch in Scotland.
Rachel PopeFSA is an archaeologist specialising in Iron Age Europe. She is Reader in European Prehistory at the University of Liverpool.
