Crannog Center

Today was a full-day Archaeology of Scotland field trip to the Scottish Crannog Centre on Loch Tay. A crannog is a circular structure built up on stilts along the shore of a lake. There are some remains found in Switzerland, and many many many in Scottish lochs. Loch Tay, in particular, there have been 18 remains of these crannogs found. And because the remains are underwater (especially in cold, dark lochs) very little decays.

So this particular crannog was built based on one crannog excavated in the same loch, and there were many artefacts found that would not normally make it, like textiles with their original colors and a butter dish with bits of butter still on. But mostly, the crannog itself was impressive. There was a raised bridge/dock/thing to get out to the structure, built on piers with just logs as a path... logs which were not lashed at all on the edges, so it was a little bouncy and unstable. Inside, which was quite roomy, the floor was the same but had a fern/weed covering, like hay might be used, and the thatched roof was incredibly high---to keep snow from sticking, and to allow the passage of smoke out.

On the shore was a small exhibition of Iron Age technology, including three kinds of lathes. The coolest one had a foot petal attached to a small tree on either side. When pushed down, the connecting ropes pulled down the trees, which in turn set the lathe spinning, so both hands could be used to scrape the wood. Other technology included using bows to spin sticks and grind down a hole in the center of a stone, to then use as a weight in weaving, fishing, or spinning wool. And a bow could also be used to start a bit of wood smouldering from friction. We were also showed a fungus that grows on the side of trees. A little chip from the fungus will burn for a full day, slow and steady, and can be used to start a campfire when on the move.

You might notice that I changed the picture links to the right-hand side. Whenever I update photos, I will change the date, so you can just glance over and see if how lazy I've been about picture taking. I will also note in my blog when I add photos, so go on over and have a look, I took a few at the crannog today.

The only problem with the field trip today was that it took about three hours to drive there, we spent about two on-site, and it was another 2-3 driving back. A lot of transportation time for a little bit of crannog time.

However, the fact we got to talk to the lead archaeologist of the project, and ask him questions about the work he did, was so cool!