Atlantic roundhouse

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

View from inside the remains of the complex Atlantic roundhouse at Feranach, Sutherland

In archaeology, an Atlantic roundhouse is an Iron Age stone building found in the northern and western parts of mainland Scotland, the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.

A form of dry-stone Iron Age dwelling, they are unique to the region, and are subdivided into two broad types - simple and complex. They marked a movement away from the earlier externally unprepossessing types of dwelling, such as at Skara Brae, towards structures which were more dominating features in the landscape. An example of a simple Atlantic roundhouse is at Bu in Orkney, while complex structures include the brochs, duns and promontory forts.

Although constructed out of stone, they are thought to have had a conical wooden roof similar to that of the timber roundhouses found elsewhere.