“A splendid example of a broch, most intelligently well preserved”

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Soaked to the skin with driving rain the Brochtoberfest III audience was not put off an expert guided tour of the Broch of Gurness, Evie, Orkney on Sunday the 21st of October.

The tour was led by Martin Carruthers of the Archaeology Institute of Orkney College UHI.

The Broch of Gurness was discovered by accident in the 1930s and excavated over the next few years with a gap during World War II. The aim of the early excavation, overseen by the then Ministry of Works was to present the site to the public so that they would better understand the broch as a building. In terms of today that excavation of such a complex and multi layered site was quite quick. As a result of those techniques much that was not considered of ‘significance’ was simply dumped.

The artefacts which were kept have little to signify where they were found – both their location in/out of the broch and the chronological layer in which they were unearthed. The site was used for thousands of years not just by the broch builders.

Out of Place and Out of Time

The ‘shamrock’ house was one of perhaps 6 found in a layer most likely described as ‘Pictish’. The only one remaining today was in such a good state of repair  that it was moved, stone by stone and relocated nearby so that the broch could be further investigated.

Also discovered was the Viking grave of a high status woman with her grave goods. It is to the seaward side of the site.

Martin Carruthers described the broch as “a superlative example of what a broch looks like.

“A splendid example of a broch, most intelligently well preserved”

It is possible to say how people moved about within the broch with the arrangement of the doorways.

Unknown is what the social status of the broch was and of the village. Indeed it is now being questioned that the village was present when the broch was first built. It may be that over generations as the broch itself changed then the settlement of small houses and other structures around it evolved.

Today Martin Carruthers explained that we are increasingly interested in what was actually happening at the broch.

“What were people doing in them and how did they relate to one another.”

The old premise that these were purely defensive structures with small communities living in isolation is being refuted as evidence emerges from more recent digs, as at The Cairns in South Ronaldsay. Finds that show the inhabitants were trading extensively – tin from the south of England and reworking Roman metal objects.

It is not known how much has been lost to the sea of the broch site, however, Martin Carruthers suggests that looking at the line of the outside ditches it is likely that 80% or more of it is still present.

The adjacent field has been surveyed using geophysics and nothing has shown up in it.

The people of the broch were engaged in intensive farming. Cattle, sheep and pigs and providing their community with not just meat products but also dairy. Despite being on the coast they are not fishing.

At Orkney during this period of the Iron Age it is estimated that the population of the islands would number perhaps 10,000+ with the broch and its village supporting 100 -150 people.

Brochs may not have been the only forms of settlement but nothing has yet been found of other structures which may have supported communities at this time in Orkney.

Inside the broch itself there are many interesting features to suggest how people may have used it. It would have been quite dark, having no windows, but lit by lamps. The lamps would have oil from various animals.

There are 2 hearths – a large central one and another one off in a side cell.

There is a well, now with a metal mesh over it, but which is located between the doorway and the hearth. Set within the floor and flush with the level of it are tanks which many have been lined with clay. This would make them water tight. Stone lids indicate that these could be covered over.

In the walls of the broch a circling edge signifies that there was an upper mezzanine. This could have been reached by internal ladders. It is now being proposed that the stone steps between the inner and outer walls were used during the building process and not to access upper levels during habitation.

Roofed most likely with some form of thatch/wood construction which would span the whole building and overlapping it the broch would accommodate many people. There were 60 in it for Brochtoberfest and there was still space to move around.

New interpretation boards and an information leaflet are being produced by Historic Environment Scotland as our understanding of how brochs were used is being reassessed.

The visit was arranged by the Orkney Archaeological Society as part of Brochtoberfest III.

Reporters: Fiona Grahame and Nick Morrison

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