BROCK DUND SAN S by ALISON YOUNG, F.S.A., F.S.A.SCOT. THE study of the brochs has been the concern of many students of Scottish Arch- aeology, not least among these Professor Gordon Childe and Sir Lindsay Scott. To these I wish to pay tribute, both for their published works and for discussions with them. I would also like to record my indebtedness to the Society for grants which enabled me to examine brochs and duns in the far North, not previously included in fifte morr th yo e sites visited. This pape base s rlecturi a n do e Societe giveth o nt n yi 1960.* Joseph Anderso Rhins hi n i d lectures2 describe architecture dth broche th f eo s as 'absolutely peculia Scottise th o t r h area'. Eve , the e closelnso yar y localised, seldom far from the sea, and, but for strays, confined to Orkney, Shetland, the northern mainland and the Western Isles. In the Northern Isles, many brochs bear names which derive from the Norse words burg, burh, for example Burrian, Berwick, Burland, Brough l nameal , latef so r derivation tha buildinge nth s themselves, while on the west coast 'dun', a word for which Johnston gives an Irish-Gaelic derivation denoting a fort or strong place, is applied to broch and allied structures alike. The fact that the incoming Norse gave the buildings names which are variants of their word for strong places indicates that some were still functional at that time. That ninte otherth hy b scentur y were already grassy 'tullochs' alss i o apparentn i r fo , several instances they have been used as burial howes by the Norse invaders.3 Later stone robbers, as reported by eighteenth-century antiquarians, have used the brochs as convenient quarrie builo t s d house d wallssan 4; others, t the no s now a ne ar , certainly identifiable. Reports of the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments show that brochssome th f eo , mainly totall coastalw no ye destroyear , d by wind and weather, so that accurate numbers for the incidence of these structures givene cannob w . no t qualite Th dry-stonf yo e buildin thesn gi e circular towers depend somo st e extent on available material, but, though the quarries of the Northern Isles and Caithness can provide better building stone than those of the Western Isles, characteristic skilled masonry work is apparent both in the northern brochs and in the scatter of broch and allied structures on the west coast. valuabls hi n I e pape brochs,n o r Angur 5M s Graham suggests thao t thertw e ear 1 Acknowledgemen mads i t H.Mo t e . Stationery Offic permissior fo e reproduco t n photographe eth f so Culswick, Carloway, Burland, Grugai Srod gDuian n n a n fro Inventoriee mth Royae th f o ls Commission o n Ancient and Historical Monuments; thanks are also due to Mr Angus Graham, Miss M. Richmond and Miss . RichardsoKM . photographr nfo Dornadillaf yo , Clachtoll, Caisteal Grugai Telved gan . 2 Anderson, ]., Scotland in Pagan Times: Iron Age (1883), 174. 3 Arch. Scot., v (1890), 76. Okstrow Broch; 131, Broch of Yarhouse; 154, note, How of Hoxa. 4 ibid., 181, 'Cullswic bees kha n greatly destroye builo dt d houses since 1774". Archaeologia, (1779)v , 250, 'Abou gentlemaa year 0 2 o t ag s than ni t neighbourhoo spoe lairs f grounth i o tf o d o whicn dwh o h this beautiful remnant of ancient grandeur is placed (Dun Alisaig) pulled down 8 or 10 ft. from the top of these walls for the sake of the stones to build a habitation for its incurious owner.' 5 P.S.A.S., LXXXI (1946-7), 79. tOO SO SO 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 10 ,0 • BROCBROCHIO DU HI A TN SCtLC IH HILCS FIG. I. Map showing location of sites described BROCKS AND DUNS 173 strains; it seems possible to go further, and, by studying structural features of brochs duns and related buildings, to offer a chronological sequence. BROCH I The earliest in the series fall mainly within the maximum range of inner dia- meters show s Graham'r ,a M n i s table. Thes commonle ear y buil closn ti e proximity seae th , o oftet flan no t sites chose conveniencr nfo e rather tha strategir nfo c value. The choice of building stone is good and the coursing even. maie Th n characteristic broche th doublf e so sar e walls rising fro msolia d ground course, corbelled cells withi thicknese nth wale th lf sopenino g ont centrae oth l area, and a guard chamber with access from the entrance passage. The latter rebates from fro. entrancft e m5 th o t agains d 3 ean chece th t formeo ks dooda r coul securee db d by means of a cross-bar housed in the thickness of the main wall. Thereafter the low passage usually widens towards the inner entrance allowing for the manipulation of the door, which, in two cases, consisted of a single slab of stone. In many brochs a scarcemen corbeller o t d cours stoneworf eo interiofoune s ki th heigha n di t ra t vary- frog . o 1abovt 3ft in m 5 e floor level. This featur alsy e builledga ob ma e s a te bonded into the stonework, and there are examples where the same result is achieved by a free-standing wall. This device, it has been presumed, is to provide support for some form of roofing, perhaps of verandah type. Corbelled mural cells opening from the interior give access to stairs which spiral up and flatten into galleries. These galleries offer possible sleeping and storage places at the lower levels, but, since the inner wal perpendiculas i l outee th rd curvean r s inwar t risesi highee s da th , r stairs galleried an s narrow somn i d e an ,case lattee sth r coul t havdno esuc o t bee t h npu a use, nor could the diminishing spaces form a means of access to the wallhead, which may, however, have been reache laddera y db . Window-like opening r 'voidsso n i ' the interio abovre wall otheon e t separateed th ,se ran transomesy db thoughe ar , o t SITES DESCRIBED IN TEXT 1 Hogsetter 18 Keiss 35 Troddan 2 Culswick 19 Wester 36 Chonil Tirefui7 3 r Fors0 2 e Burlan3 d 4 Clumlie 21 Dornadilla 38 Mhuilig 5 Mousa 22 Clachtoll 39 Ardifuir 6 Levenwick 23 Ga an Duin 40 A Choin Dhuibh 7 Jarlshof 24 Rhinovie 41 Kildonan lardhar2 4 d Vide5 2 n Burg8 i 9 Okstrow 26 Chealamy 43 Beag 4 Ringil4 l Salachad7 2 h 10 Berwick 5 Grugai4 g e BorTh g 8 2 11 Skirza 6 Carlowa4 y Kilphede9 2 r 12 Freswick Barabha7 4 t Carnliat0 3 h 13 Everley 14 Ness 8 Scurriva4 l 31 Backies 15 Nybster 32 Alisaig 49 Cuier Caistea3 3 Bah0 5 nl Grugaig 16 Road Telv4 3 e 17 Whitegate 51 Sro Duin na n 174 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, ig6l-62 have been designe relievo dt e pressure t als provid,bu o t e som estairwaye lighth o t s galleriesd an . Well cisternr so commonle sar y foun Brocn di hcentraI l courtsn i d an , some ther alse ear o underground storage chambers. distributioe Th Brocf no confines i Northerhe I th o dt n Isles, Caithnese th d san east coas Sutherlandf o t . FIG. 2. Keiss, No. 18 (left) and Road, No. 16 (right), Broch I/II BROCI HI Brochsecone th n si d category ten shoo dt wsmallea r inner diameter, varying from 19 to 32 ft.; their size, however, may have been governed by the lie of the land. They are commonly sited on precipitous and rocky ground and where possible a strategic defensive positio s chosenni , which coul smala hele db y db l forcn i e sudden attack. In some cases, where the broch is on sloping ground, the foundations hav obtaieo t beesid. e mucft s eon na levena 9 n s builho a l p floorinteriou e t Th . r may include living rock, smoothed and sometimes levelled up with earth. While the building carefull materialo s t no ye sar chose Brocn i ingeniou n s a n beea s , hI ha ne sus madsizel typed al f s ean stoneo f so , reflectin gtraditionaa l skil dry-stonn li e building. As in Broch I, bar-hole defences are common. Wells and underground storage places are not normally found, though careful siting within easy reach of water is the rule. Broch II sites carry on the traditional use of corbelled mural chambers opening centrae onth l guara cour d entrancee dan t th cel t a l : some have eart stond han e enclosing walls. In some instances the reoccupation of Broch I structures may be attributed to the builders of Broch II, for, as will be seen below, reconstruction is carried out some- times in Broch II building technique, but rarely in Broch II proper has any major rebuilding taken place. An innovation which occurs in this period is the use of triangular lintels over the BROCHS AND DUNS entrance, a feature which, it has been suggested, could be an attempt to relieve pressure. From now on it is used in varying related structures. e distributioTh Brocf widens o i I hI r spread tha nearliee thath f o tr typd ean includes the west coast.