Skip to content
TrackPodcasts
historyDec 10, 202031:49pending

Scotland's Enigmatic Ancient Structures

The Ancients

About this episode

Brochs. Early archaeologists believed that they must have been built by the Danish, that the indigenous population could never have managed it. More recent suggestions have been that architects travelled Scotland, spreading the plans for these Iron Age ‘round houses on steroids’. Iain Maclean came on The Ancients to shed a little light on the truth of the stone buildings found across Scotland, particularly on the coastline. Whilst mentions of Romans, Egyptians and Greeks are familiar to our ears, the Scottish Celts have fallen under the radar. By studying brochs, archaeologists have not only uncovered the amazing architecture which has kept many of them standing, but have also learned more about the societies that built them. By examining the spread of the structures over time, they have been able to track changing climates; and by excavating the contents of the buildings, they have been able to track the communities’ ways of living off the land. Iain dreamt up the concept of the Broch Project for Caithness and, when he isn’t building brochs from various different materials, is spreading knowledge of this little understood part of Scottish history through events and community outreach.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Get every episode summarized

Each time The Ancients publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.

Email me new episodes

Free for 3 shows. No card needed.

Hosts & guests

No transcript yet

This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.

Scotland's Enigmatic Ancient Structures

The Ancients

0:00
31:49

More episodes

More from The Ancients

View all episodes →