Hundreds of these ancient stone structures dot the Scottish Highlands, but the true purpose of brochs continues to baffle experts.

By Chris Griffiths

Travel north through Scotland's deep glens, its mist and mountains and its velvety moorland and you'll eventually see them: crumbling stone towers rising against the Highland peaks like ancient crag-top castles. These mysterious Iron Age monuments are known as brochs and they exist nowhere else but here. Yet, while these circular dry-walled structures are as symbolic a feature as any in the Scottish Highlands, their purpose remains unknown.

What is known is that around 2,000 years ago, local tribes started harvesting local stone to build massive prehistoric buildings with walls 5m thick and stretching 13m high. To date, anywhere from 100 to 500 broch sites have been identified, with the densest concentration centred in Scotland's northern Caithness and Sutherland counties, as well as the Northern Isles.

While early archaeologists thought that brochs (whose name derives from the Lowland Scottish word for "fort") were the citadels of local chieftains, more recent excavations suggest that the structures were more likely used for residential rather than defensive purposes.

Now, in an effort to better understand the true purpose of these prehistoric towers, an ambitious initiative called the Caithness Broch Project is aiming to reconstruct a full-scale broch from scratch using traditional methods. By relying on archaeological evidence from broch sites and incorporating the same dry-stone masonry techniques Iron Age tribes would have used, builders are aiming to understand whether the organisation of Iron Age Highland societies revolved around brochs or whether brochs evolved to fit the shifting needs of Highland societies. 

What's more, by creating a modern attraction modelled on a historical blueprint, architects are hoping that visitors will gain a newfound appreciation for these iconic buildings that have long shaped the Scottish landscape.

Source: BBC