Carn Liath Broch
| Carn Liath | |
|
Sutherland | |
|---|---|
 Carn Liath Broch | |
| Type: | Broch |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NC87040138 |
| Location: | 57°59’14"N, 3°54’44"W |
| History | |
| Built Iron Age | |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | Historic Scotland |
| Website: | Carn Liath Broch |
Càrn Liath is an Iron Age broch on the eastern shore of Sutherland, near Golspie. The name 'Càrn Liath' is gaelic for 'Grey Cairn'.[1]
The broch is to be found beside the A9 road, around two and a half miles north-east of Golspie.[2][3] The site is under the care of Historic Environment Scotland and has a car-park and information board for visitors.[2]
Description
The broch has an external diameter of around 62 feet and an internal diameter of around 30 feet.[1] The broch wall is particularly thick.[2] The entrance passage is on the east side and is over 13 feet long.[1] The entrance has elaborate door checks and a bar-hole to control access to the interior.[4] On the right-hand side of the entrance passage is a small guard cell.[2]
The surrounding enclosure contains the ruins of additional stone buildings.[2]
Excavations
The broch was first excavated in the 19th century by the Duke of Sutherland, and was initially thought to be a burial cairn.[5] Finds included pottery, flint chips, stone hammers, mortars and pestles, querns, spindle whorls, shale rings, long-handled bone combs, a whale bone club, a silver fibula, steatite cups and an iron blade.[5]
In 1909 the entrance passage was still visible on the east side of the broch, but by 1960 no structural features were discernible.[1]
The site was excavated again in 1986.[5] This showed that the site was occupied in the Bronze Age, before the broch was built.[5] A Bronze Age cist burial with a food vessel was discovered.[5] The foundations of many outbuildings were found in the enclosure surrounding the broch.[4] Although many were clearly from a later period, some may have been contemporary with the broch.[4]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Carn Liath Broch) |
- Carn Liath Broch: Historic Environment Scotland
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 CANMORE (RCAHMS) record of Carn Liath
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Carn Liath". Historic Scotland. http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/index/places/propertyresults/propertydetail.htm?PropID=PL_055. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
- ↑ Ritchie, J N G: 'Brochs of Scotland' (Shire Publications, 1998) page 45 ISBN 0747803897
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Armit, Ian (1998). Scotland's Hidden History. Tempus. p. 105. ISBN 0752414003.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 MacSween, Ann; Sharp, Mick (1989). Prehistoric Scotland. New Amsterdam. p. 57. ISBN 071346173X.
- Love, P: 'Recent excavations at Carn Liath Broch, Golspie, Sutherland'; GAJ, 15, 1988-9: 157-69