Carlungie Earth House

Dundee, United Kingdom

At about 40m long, Carlungie Earth House is one of the largest and most complex examples of its kind in Scotland. It was accidentally discovered during ploughing in 1949. Subsequent excavations during the following two years also revealed about eight associated stone dwellings at ground level.

Earth houses, or souterrains as they are also known, were not dwellings, but stone-lined underground passages which typically date to the Iron Age. They’re found along much of eastern Scotland, as well as in Ireland, Cornwall and Brittany.

References:

Comments

Your name



Details

Founded: 50 BCE - 450 AD
Category: Prehistoric and archaeological sites in United Kingdom

Rating

4.2/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Ian Whittaker (4 years ago)
Follow the sign to Carlungie and then you'll see the small sign by the side of the road and a gateway leading 50 m or so across a field to these remains. When we visited (September 2021) the surrounding field was planted with Brussels Sprouts so you would get very wet legs walking across the field if it has been recently raining! Something I've never seen before, but you do need to be a bit of a fan of archaeology to find it a riveting visit. Having said that it was worth the hunt.
Iain Hunter (4 years ago)
first time seen the sign for it. It was interesting
pam imrie (4 years ago)
Amazing to have these historical gems on our doorstep.
Andrew Lawson (5 years ago)
A bit of a hole in the ground and various bit of stone works shows that someone, at some point had a building there. Pretty pointless. Info board and small parking. Not really worth a visit.
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Church of St Donatus

The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.

The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.

The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.