Crannog_-_geograph.org.uk_-_35551

March 13, 2018 by Alexander Meldrum

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A crannog(/'kræn?g/; Irish: crannóg ['k??an??o?g]; Scottish Gaelic: crannag ['k??an??ak]) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes, rivers and estuarine waters of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps that were built on the shores and were inundated only later on, crannogs were built in the water, thus forming artificial islands. Crannogs were used as dwellings over five millennia, from the European Neolithic Period to as late as the 17th/early 18th century, although in Scotland there is currently no convincing evidence in the archaeological record of Early and Middle Bronze Age or Norse Period use. The earliest radiocarbon determinations obtained from key sites such as Oakbank in Loch Tay and Redcastle, Beauly Firth approach the Late Bronze Age to Early Iron age,they fall after around 800 BC and so could be considered Late Bronze Age by only the narrowest of margins. Crannogs have been variously interpreted as free-standing wooden structures, as at Loch Tay, although more commonly they exist as brush, stone or timber mounds that can be revetted with timber piles. However, in areas such as the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, timber was unavailable from the Neolithic era onwards. As a result, completely stone crannogs supporting drystone architecture are common there.Today, crannogs typically appear as small, circular islets, often 10 to 30 metres (30 to 100 ft) in diameter, covered in dense vegetation due to their inaccessibility to grazing livestock. The earliest known construction of a crannog is the completely artificial Neolithic islet of Eilean Dòmhnuill, Loch Olabhat on North Uist in Scotland. Eilean Domhnuill has produced radiocarbon dates ranging from 3650 to 2500 BC while Irish crannogs appear from middle Bronze Age layers at Ballinderry (1200–600 BC). Prior to the Bronze Age, the existence of artificial island settlement in Ireland is not as clear. Crannog construction and occupation was at its peak in Scotland from about 800 BC to AD 200. Not surprisingly, crannogs have useful defensive properties, although there appears to be more significance to prehistoric use than simple defense, as very few weapons or evidence for destruction appear in excavations of prehistoric crannogs. In Ireland, crannogs were at their zenith during the Early Historic period, when they were the homes and retreats of kings, lords, prosperous farmers and occasionally socially marginalised groups such as monastic hermits or metalsmiths who could work in isolation. However, despite earlier concepts of a strict Early Historic evolution, Irish excavations are increasingly uncovering examples, which date from the "missing" Iron Age in Ireland.

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