If you think man has only recently
decided to build their own islands, think again. In Scotland, Wales and
Ireland, they started doing it nearly 6,000 years ago. They are called crannogs
and while some of them are partially natural,
quite a few were entirely artificial, built in lakes and estuarine
waters. Crannogs are not like the prehistoric pile dwellings of the Alps, which
were built on the shores and became inundated later. Crannogs were actually
built in the water, forming artificial islands.
These new islands were used as
dwellings for over five millennia, possibly to the early 18th century. Some
were free-standing wooden structures, although they more commonly existed as
brush, stone or timber mounds. However, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland,
timber was unavailable, so their crannogs consisted of stone, with drystone
architecture sitting atop the base stones. Today, crannogs typically appear as
small, circular islets, 30 to 100 feet in diameter, covered in dense vegetation
because they are inaccessible to grazing livestock.
Crannogs are wide-spread in Ireland,
but are frequently undercounted in Scotland, as they can be called various
things, depending on who you talk to. Mainland Scotland and the Scottish isles
also refer to them in various ways. Previously unknown crannogs are still being
found, as underwater surveys find completely submerged examples.
Crannogs were built with whatever
material was most available in the immediate area. Several feet above the
water’s surface, an ‘Atlantic roundhouse’ was built on the new island,
connected to the shore by a causeway. At the time, most communication and
travel was achieved by waterways. They may have served as simple farmsteads or
as boltholes in times of danger. Their limited access may have served as a
status symbol, and their inherited location would have implied legitimacy
towards ownership of the surrounding landscape.
The earliest known crannog in
Scotland appears to date from 3650 BC. It is interesting to note that crannogs
were often reused after a period of non-use. Defense does not appear to be the
major reason for building and living on a crannog, as there is little evidence
of weapons or of destruction in the excavation of prehistoric crannogs.
I have to admit, I was unaware of
any such method of building a home until I googled this word for information.
My first thought is that it would be a wonderful home for a water spirit or for
a child of a water spirit.
My second thought was that it could
be useful as a toll bridge across a river, with a causeway or bridge going from
the home to both banks. Why break your back every day for the rest of your life
to ferry people from one side of the river to the other when you can work hard
as a youngster to build a home and 2 causeways, and still collect tolls as you
totter into old age?
The article also mentioned kings and
lords living on crannogs, of crannog islets being enlarged repeatedly and
therefore being home to an extended family. What about a city growing up on an
ever-enlarging crannog? Lots of ideas from this one word.
No comments:
Post a Comment