Island Dwellings at 60°  North: New Evidence for Crannogs in Iron Age Shetland

Michael John Stratigos

doi:10.1111/ojoa.12225

Island Dwellings at 60° North: New Evidence for Crannogs in Iron Age Shetland

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Re-evaluation of recorded sites and new field survey has identified 30 island dwellings in Shetland which are argued to be part of the wider Scottish Iron Age crannog building tradition. Four of the 30 sites identified were subject to field survey above and below water and found to be at least partially artificial. The morphology, distribution and chronology of Shetland’s artificial islands are discussed and compared to the rest of Scotland emphasising their parallels. The results support the recent move towards considering islet duns and brochs as crannogs. These newly identified sites in Shetland underline the ubiquity of the crannog building tradition in Scotland. Through discussion of the morphology, distribution and chronology of crannogs in Shetland and the rest of Scotland, it is argued that artificial island dwelling is a widely shared cultural practice and an underlying principle of Scottish Iron Age settlement.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	286-308
Journal	Oxford Journal of Archaeology
Volume	40
Issue number	3
Early online date	4 Jul 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/ojoa.12225
Publication status	Published - 16 Jul 2021

Bibliographical note

Keywords

crannog
Shetland
Iron Age
lake dwelling
Scotland
domestic architecture

Access to Document

10.1111/ojoa.12225Licence: CC BY

ojoa.12225
© 2021, The Author(s).
Final published version, 2.63 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Island Dwellings at 60° North: New Evidence for Crannogs in Iron Age Shetland",

abstract = "Re-evaluation of recorded sites and new field survey has identified 30 island dwellings in Shetland which are argued to be part of the wider Scottish Iron Age crannog building tradition. Four of the 30 sites identified were subject to field survey above and below water and found to be at least partially artificial. The morphology, distribution and chronology of Shetland{\textquoteright}s artificial islands are discussed and compared to the rest of Scotland emphasising their parallels. The results support the recent move towards considering islet duns and brochs as crannogs. These newly identified sites in Shetland underline the ubiquity of the crannog building tradition in Scotland. Through discussion of the morphology, distribution and chronology of crannogs in Shetland and the rest of Scotland, it is argued that artificial island dwelling is a widely shared cultural practice and an underlying principle of Scottish Iron Age settlement.",

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