Archaeology InSites

The Broch

Walk a mile east from the hustle and bustle of the A9 at Ousdale, in Caithness, and an almost- forgotten realm of tranquillity can be discovered. Here, the shunts and grunts of traffic dissipate, and are replaced by the calls of grouse and pheasant, and even the occasional startled deer. 2000 years ago, however, and this area would have sounded and looked much different, habited by humans, and dominated by the presence of a stunning prehistoric structure – the broch.

Brochs are multi-storeyed, drystone tower structures. They are ‘double walled’, with a staircase running through the ‘gallery’ between these walls. These ancient buildings, most of which now lie as ruinous mounds of earth and rubble, are often punctuated with features such as corbelled cells built within the walls, voids (perhaps included to lessen the weight load), door checks, internal staircases and even wells – however, given that there are thought to be around 500 of these monuments in Scotland, their appearance differs from one broch to another. Brochs appear to have been the final conclusion in roundhouse building in Scotland, from roundhouses and hut circles built from around 2000 BC, to Atlantic Roundhouses and Complex Atlantic Roundhouses, before finally brochs appear, from around 200 BC.

What is evident is that brochs would have been imposing structures on the landscape in any form, with some brochs reaching up to 40 feet high – it is no surprise, then, they are often referred to as the ‘pinnacles of prehistoric architecture’. For those wishing to get an idea of how impressive these brochs would have looked, then travel to the Shetland Islands, specifically the island of Mousa, where the best-surviving example exists.

Brochs are unique to Scotland, but Caithness can lay claim to having more brochs than anywhere in the country, with over 180 broch sites having been identified in the area. What made Caithness ‘the home of the broch’? It is difficult to truly pinpoint why the north of Scotland was such as ‘broch hotspot’, but Martin Carruthers, who has been investigating ‘The Cairns’ broch site in Orkney for several years, believes it is down to a number of factors:

"I think it comes down to long-lived excellent building traditions in stone, plus the social and economic context for large populations who were also in competition with each other. Lots of evidence now that they were able to seriously improve their environment through enhancement of soils etc, to really boost fertility and productivity.

Beyond these factors, though, I think you've just got to take into account the shear land mass of Caithness. It's a massive block of land, and there's plenty of good farm land within that block. It's a much larger land mass than is available in the Northern or Western Isles, so it could presumably sustain a pretty big population."