Carn Liath, Highland, United Kingdom

Càrn Liath is an Iron Age broch on the eastern shore of the Scottish Highlands. The broch has an external diameter of around 19 metres and an internal diameter of around 10 metres. The entrance passage is on the east side and is over 4 metres long. The entrance has elaborate door checks and a bar-hole to control access to the interior. On the right-hand side of the entrance passage is a small guard cell. The surrounding enclosure contains the ruins of additional stone buildings.

The broch was first excavated in the 19th century by the Duke of Sutherland, and was initially thought to be a burial cairn. Finds included pottery, flint chips, stone hammers, mortars and pestles, querns, whorls, shale rings, long-handled bone combs, a whale bone club, a silver fibula, steatite cups and an iron blade.

The site was excavated again in 1986. This showed that the site was occupied in the Bronze Age, before the broch was built. A Bronze Age cist burial with a food vessel was discovered. The foundations of many outbuildings were found in the enclosure surrounding the broch. Although many were clearly from a later period, some may have been contemporary with the broch.

References:

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User Reviews

Ian Fidler (2 years ago)
Fascinating. A gem of Iron Age history. Read the information boards and sense your ancestors constructing and living in this structure (well, what's left of it).

Ingrid Horsburgh (2 years ago)
Enter the car park and drive to the far left to get to the path that crosses the road. The cairn is amazing and one of the best things I have seen in Scotland.

Phil (2 years ago)
Beautiful place meets history! Take care crossing the road!

Rob Henderson (2 years ago)
Well preserved cairn broch. Park across the highway on the north side. Take the pedestrian walk to the marked crossing and then walk down the farm track.

Scott (3 years ago)
Lovely little piece of history right beside a main road so it is easy to access. The Cairn Liath gives you an insite into how some people lived all those years ago. You can access the whole Cairn as you please. I had it to myself today so that was great. The views from this spot are amazing and you can see the top of Dunrobin Castle.

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