SOME OBSERVATIONS on the BROCHS. by A. GRAHAM, MA, FSASCOT., FSA Read May 12, 1947. SUMMARY of CONTENTS
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48 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , 1946-48. V. SOME OBSERVATION E BROCHS . TH GRAHAMA N Y O SB . , M.A., F.S.A.SCOT., F.S.A. Read May 12, 1947. SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. PAGE . INTRODUCTOR1 Y .........8 4 . NUMBER2 DISTRIBUTIOD AN S BROCHF NO S ....9 4 . ARCHITECTURA3 L FEATURES: (i) Entrances .... ..... 54 (ii) Guard-cells ......... 56 (iii) Mural CellBasad san l Galleries ....7 5 . (iv) Upper Galleries and Stairs ...... 62 (v) Scarcements . .67 (vi) Voids .......... 71 (vii) Roofing and Wall-heads . .71 (viii) Wells and Tanks ........ 76 (ix) Hearths ..........7 7 . 4. SHAPE AND DIMENSIONS: (i) Ground Plan ........7 7 . (ii) Diameter .......... 78 (iii) Height .........0 8 . EXTERNA5 L DEFENCES ........7 8 . RECAPITULATIO6 N .........0 9 . APPENDIX (List of Brochs, etc.) ........ 91 1. INTRODUCTORY. The main features of the typical broch are very well known, and general informatio e subject difficulth no n s o i ncomo tt t e by.1 Further detailed descriptions of individual brochs are to be found here and there 1 E.g. Anderson, Scotland Pagann i Times: the Iron ff.4 ; 17 Age, Antiquity,. pp ff. 0 , 29 . volpp . i . K.O.A.M., Inventory of Orkney Shetland,d an . ff.1 Nosii 3 ; . vols. pp 263 . i . , 553; iii. Nos. 1149, 1206, 1246. SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE BROCKS. 49 literature,e iinferencee nth th d an s regarding their origi datd nan e that ca mose drawe lighe nth b th f to tn n receni 1 t evidence have been discussed Professoy b leavre s soow Childe.e reala s eth t na f generalitie mo Bu 2 s we encounte considerabla r e bod factf yo s whic muce har h less familiao t r antiquaries thesed an , , thoug t leah no importano dt they y ma con w -ne t clusions, are yet relevant to any attempt to fill in the outline sketch and same th et a time posses a certais n intrinsic interest purpose e Th th . f eo present paper is accordingly to make some of these facts conveniently accessibl o futurt e e student e subjectth f o s ; they relate mainle th o t y distribution and to the physical features of the brochs, while a list of structuree th s themselve gives Appendix.sn i a n i 3 The material on which the paper is based has been taken for the most part fro publishee mth d description brochse th f t thesso bu , e descriptions have been eke t witou d h information gaine n somi d e case personay b s l visits to the monuments themselves, and in others by discussion with observers whose experienc s beeha en wider tha herd owny nm I eAn . desire to express my particular indebtedness to Professor Godfrey Thomson, D.C.L. , e statisticaD.Sc.th r fo ,othe d an l r calculation goos s wa thad e h t enough to make on my behalf; to Mr A. O. Curie, C.V.O., LL.D., F.S.A., . HP .. M WatsonG r , F.R.I.B.A., R.S.W.. T . ,S F.S.A.Scot.. C r M d an , Calder, A.R.I.A.S., F.S.A.Scot., who have given me the benefit of their intimate acquaintance wit ha ver y large numbe f brochso r Professoo t ; r Childe. VG . , D.Sc., D.Litt., F.B.A. ,Richardson. F.S.A.S . J r ,M , F.S.A.Scot., H.M. Inspecto Ancienf ro t Monuments, Professo Piggott. S r , B.Litt., F.S.A., Mrs Piggott, F.S.A. d other havo an , wh se give e informatiom n a n o n e Royavarietth o f pointst lo y Commissiod an ; e Ancienth d n o nan t Historical Monument f Scotlano s r permissiodfo f certaio o maknt e eus n unpublished data. NUMBER2 DISTRIBUTIOD AN S BROCHSP NO . It will be convenient for the purposes of this paper to regard Scotland as being divided into the following six regions, shown on the map in fig. 1: 1 E.g. Archceologia Scotica, vol. v. pp. 71 if., where references are given to eighteenth-century notices of certain brochs; ibid., pp. 341 ff. and 365 ff.; Beveridge, Coll and Tiree, pp. 73 if.; Proceedings of the Orkney Antiquarian Society, numerous articles on the Orkney brochs; Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, numerous papers, of which the most important are: vols. xxxv. pp. 122 ff.; S.;0 ff.11 4 ;iWiii d 44 R.C.A.M. an . pp . if ff.1 3 ;8 24 . .Iv. Countpp I.pp . y Inventories, especiallf yo Caithness, Sutherland, Orkney and Shetland, and the Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles. These Inventory articles contain many references to descriptions in P.O.A.8., P.S.A.S., and elsewhere; while for areas which have not yet been inventoried some literary references have been given in the Appendix thif o sd paperen e th . t a 2 Prehistory of Scotland, pp. 197 if., and Map IV; Prehistoric Communities of the British Isles, ff.6 . f ; 24 8 Scotland. 12 pp d an . f before 9 Scots,e 8 th . pp 3 This list bring dato t earlien p ea su publishe e ron Antiquariesde inTh Journal, vol. xxiii. , Nos2 , 1 . embodyiny ff.9 b 1 , . pp e resultgth f field-worso k done sinc e earlieeth t r alsI s drawlis o. wa t nup includes a number of "comparable structures." 4 VOL. KXXXI. 50 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1946-48. ShetlandI . OrkneyII ; ; III. Northern Mainland, mainlani.e.e th d lying north of a line drawn from Gruinard to Tain; IV. West Coast and Inner Islands, comprising the western coastal areas from Gruinard to Kirkcud- bright with the islands of Skye, liaasay, Tiree, Mull, Islay, etc.; V. Outer Islands . CentraVI ;d Easteran l n Mainland r virtuallo , e resf th yo t Fig. 1. Sketch-ma-p of Scotland, showing subdivision into Regions. the country. The quantity of material available, and its distribution among thes regionsx esi shows i , Tabln ni , whileI e detailed information, with references to hterature, will be found in the Appendix. e tablth en I opposite, "brochs e "structure ar (col ) 6 . s positively identified as brochs and still showing remains; "broch sites" (col. c) are SOME OBSERVATION E BROCHSTH N O S . 51 e site th f vanisheo s d structures know havo nt e been brochs; "uncertain examples" (col e .structure d)ar s som f whico e h probabl d otheran e syar possibly ma brochse yb , though none have been identifie s sucha dd an ; "comparable structures" are not brochs but embody certain features which also appear typically in broch architecture. With the unimportant excep- tions noted below under (i) and (ii) the foregoing classification follows the published accounts of the structures, and in particular no attempt has been TABLE I.—NUMBERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF BROCHS. Totals of Uomparable Region. Brochs. Broch Uncertain cols. sites. examples. (6) to (d). structures. («) (&) (c) (d) (e) (/) I. Shetland 51 30 14 95 2 II. Orkney 42 20 43 105 III. Northern Mainlan. d 169 17 41 227 2 IV. West Coas Inned an t r Islands 28 21 49 28 V. Outer Islands . 8 20 28 6 . CentraVI Easterd an l n Mainland 6 2 8 Totals . 304 67 141 512 38 mad discuso et r appraiso s distinctioe eth t presenna t recognised between the brochs and the broch-like "galleried duns," or to discuss how, if at all, they are related. For this far too little evidence seems to be available as yet, and the most that can usefully be done is to sound some notes of warning. The followin gnotee b point n connectioy i d ma s n wit e foregoinhth g table:— (i) While the figures are not exactly the same as those given by Childe or by the Ancient Monuments Commission,2 the differences are small an1 d Prehistorye Th 1 of Scotland,. IV p 2 Ma Inventory of Orkney Shetland,d an . 31 . volp . i . 52 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1946-48. affect only point f detailso wil s explainee A b l . e nexth tn d i sub-section , rather more "uncertain examples" have been recognised in the Inner and Outer Islands than were include Commission'e th n di s estimate. (ii) It would be wrong to pay too much attention to the fact that the figure n columni s s regulay t stan(6)an no , n o d i (d)(c)d r an rati, o ot one another, or to their totals (col. e}, in the several regions. This apparent irregularity is probably due in great part to special circumstances that affected the compilation of the records. Thus the comparatively high proportion of "uncertain examples" recorded in Orkney may be due to the possibility—always present to the minds of the Ancient Monuments Com- mission's officers—of unexplored mound e chamberesb turnino t t ou gd cairns rather than ruined brochs; this was probably felt to be of greater urgency in Orkney than in either Shetland or the Northern Mainland. The proportion of "uncertain examples" is also high in Regions IV and V, but here again possible explanations exist. Region IV, for example, contains islane th f Tireedo , wit hseriea monumentf so s which have bee poorlo ns y described that their true nature is doubtful, but which are far more likely to be brochs tba.n a.nything else: and also Mull, where some structures exist which canno positivele b t y identified without excavation n RegioI .