What are these Mysterious Prehistoric Towers in Scotland?

All across northern Scotland, you can still see the skeletal remains of prehistoric skyscrapers. Unique to Scotland, these enigmatic Iron Age towers are called brochs. 2,500 years ago, these drystone structures dominated the Highlands and Islands, yet so much of their story remains shrouded in mystery. Join Tristan Hughes as he ventures across northern Scotland to investigate these extraordinary ancient buildings.
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The journey begins in western Scotland, at Dun Telve, with one of the best preserved brochs in Scotland. Filled with iconic, structural features, the remains epitomise the skill of the prehistoric architects who constructed this building more than 2 millenia ago. Next, Tristan heads to Caithness, a region of Scotland renowned as the beating heart of brochs because of the sheer quantity of these ancient towers found here. With help from Iain Maclean of the Caithness Broch Project, Tristan learns how these towers were constructed using Iron Age tools.
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#historyhit #prehistoric #ironage

[@seanpatterson5948]

What bothers me about modern people is that when they look at building projects from the past they think of every thing that could possibly explain how it was built. Aliens,magic, what ever, except common sense and experimentation with tools and techniques. The majority of the measurement tools throughout all time is string and gravity.

[@M1701-d8s]

You're wrong. Its obviously aliens. If we don't understand it then its got to be aliens. No way a human could be that smart! (This is sarcastic in case anyone was wondering)

[@voidremoved]

@@M1701-d8s humans keep getting stupider, but think they keep getting smarter. Thats why the groups who control the world all hate the Bible, because anyone reading it can see how people were smarter and keep getting stupider and that we need God and Jesus and the Spirit

[@metorilt]

It's obviously aliens because they still haven't explained how the center of all these structures atomically align with the center of the earth when you look at them from above. Clearly only aliens would see these structures from the sky.

[@noeraldinkabam]

Most people don’t believe in aliens. The world is way bigger than the USA. If it isn’t god or jesus it must be aliens. Even among americans the people that bring magic into real life are becominga minority. They are louder that’s all there is to it.

[@dannyboywhaa3146]

Nothing beats a string line or plumb line 👍 still use them all the time - gravity doesn’t fail, ever!

[@williamrobinson7435]

All the best to The Caithness Broch project, and my thanks to the History Hit team for this great video! 🌟👍

[@fantabuloussnuffaluffagus]

Too big for two men? LOL. in Uni a students car collapsed into a ditch in a heavy rain, he called a tow. I looked about and we had >10 men sitting about. We went outside and lifted his car out of the ditch. Modern people seriously underestimate the strength of large groups of people working together.

[@voidremoved]

Too big for the scrawny men in this video maybe... But not Mel Gibson

[@niemandkeiner8057]

He said two men, not 10+ men, mate.

[@fantabuloussnuffaluffagus]

@@niemandkeiner8057 Would you rather get a few guys together to lift a few stones or spend a day or more to build an earthen ramp 1.5m high?

[@niemandkeiner8057]

​@@fantabuloussnuffaluffagus Why not both? This isn't something you can build over a weekend anyway. I agree that modern people underestimate how much can be accomplished by hand, btw.

[@cw4608]

We also underestimate how much stronger people of those times were in comparison to people today. Everything they did required manual labor.

[@60secondscotland.78]

There are many, many of these in the North. Some easy to find, some not so much. There's hundreds that are sadly just a pile of stones, but some are in amazing condition. Its a real joy for me to find these!

[@Crytica.]

They remind me a bit of the Sardinian Nuraghe structures, which where used as fortresses or residences or storehouses (nobody really knows). But the shape of these Brochs look quite similair. It is also interesting that they are both build long ago; brochs roughly since 600 BC and Nuraghes roughly since 2000 BC until roughly 700 BC.

[@nicthecow1340]

Very very interesting! i've never heard abouy Brochs..they look similar to Sardinian's Nuragic structures, built 3000-3500 years ago and still shrouded in mystery

[@bernardmolloy4463]

likely they are the remains of a once shared coastal european culture from scotland on the atlantic to sardinia in the mediterranean.

[@nicthecow1340]

@@bernardmolloy4463 can you imagine that?!? History is full of mistery indeed, and we'll never get answers probably...not me for sure, maybe humanity one day

[@cristianocastagno9680]

Possibly they were inhabited by giants, the possible survivors of the Atlantean civilisation.

[@cristianocastagno9680]

@Tigerbear Monkeyman thank you for your information. Have you a reference text or video where I could learn more about this ? 🙏

[@cristianocastagno9680]

@Tigerbear Monkeyman thanks. Actually I live in Sardinia and there is ample evidence for instance of the presence of the giants: from the innumerable Tombs of the Giants, so called to this day even though conventional archeology refuses to admit this has anything to do with “tall people”. Also the folklore carries reminiscences like in the name of the very masks used during the Carnival that is a giveaway: Mammuthones, (mamoth=giant) remembering the remote times when the real giants would have entered the villages searching for food in the form of children and inhabitants. Fascinating. Yet academia ignores everything, this is the incredible thing !

[@JackieWelles]

To the person who did the intro, seriously this was dope. Wasnt expecting it in the history video at all but hope to see it more often!

[@jesperb8626]

don't listen to this fool, History Hit, the music sucked. It sounded as if you were trying to get comments like ^^^ this one ^^^ to up the ratings. Stay true.

[@JackieWelles]

@@jesperb8626 Yes, yes ofc. Ratings make my life better. 🤨

[@stewartmackay]

I see Dundornalilla there, or Dundornagail as you may know it. Thats where I'm from. I wrote a 40 page paper on Brochs in 1984, when I was 16. And another on souterrains. There's a great broch in Mousa, in Shetland, almost intact. Thanks for the video.

[@chicktait5544]

Damm you look good for 112yrs,what's the secret?

[@stewartmackay]

@@chicktait5544 I corrected it :)

[@cleverusername9369]

Hàlo, a charaid. Ciamar a tha sibh? Tha Gàidhlig na h-Alba agad?

[@stewartmackay]

@@cleverusername9369 No, my fathers first language was Gaelic, but I am not fluent in it.

[@dedet6900]

@@stewartmackayso sad that we’ve lost so much of Scottish culture and language.

[@stlouisix3]

Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 has a very fascinating and strong 💪 history 🏰 ☦️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿✝️ 📜

[@paul6925]

I love these reconstruction projects. I visited a reconstruction of a crannog in Scotland. (Burned down recently) and it was fascinating.

[@alexythemechanic8056]

The Crannog burning down is such a shame. It was a really effective learning and teaching resource.

[@paul6925]

@@alexythemechanic8056 Yes it was! I hear they are building it back better than ever. I hope it goes well for them

[@paul6925]

@Tigerbear Monkeyman Hadn't heard the reason being fire. Security, status and trade routes on water yes. I don't think anyone claims to know for sure.

[@josephteller9715]

Regarding Building With Large Stones: Its also quite logical that wood & Rope Bock and Tackle or basic crane like device could have been used instead of ramps so that multiple people or an animal could be used (like an ox) to haul such up. Since wood & rope rot away there would not be any evidence left behind of this but there is no reason to assume that an iron age culture would not have had them since they were known to the Bronze Age cultures of Greece, Egypt, Rome etc.

[@suebeattie5101]

Weren't they pretty dark inside with no windows at all?

[@nos9784]

@@suebeattie5101 light: I'd assume they had windows in the roof, as well as a central fire. The central, open fire was common in simpler houses until very recently. If you lived there all your life, you'd rarely need light to use the stairs or rooms with simpler funcions. And just because there are no big windows, doesn't mean no light would come in through smaller holes. Even between the stones- if they didn't seal those joints with clay and moss against the wind.

[@nos9784]

Block, tackle, a frame holding them up and especially handmade rope require a serious amount of work to make, unless they were already in daily use anyway. Most stones look small enough, and i'd assume the bigger ones were shuffled along ramps inside the building. Simple inclined wooden beams for completed stories, or the partially completed wall they were currently working on. If you have two points of contact, close the the balance point of a heavy object, you can just tip it from side to side and push it forward. I use that all the time to move some bigger things on my own.

[@GoingtoHecq]

I would certainly hope that people of the iron age had wood and rope.

[@wahdadahi]

These construction techniques look similar to those in the construction of the Great Zimbabwe remains. Also South Africa has what seems to have been thousands of stone circular wall remnants scattered across the landscape. I had never hear of a Broch till I stumbled upon this video.

[@rhondahuggins9542]

My home is in The Ozark Mountains in The US. That is significant because not only are those mountains infamous for the amount of rock (sandstone) you have to shift to build nearly anything, but also for the Scottish and Irish ancestry of its longtime inhabitants. Dry stone structures were not uncommon, especially as fences around fields, which were made from the stone cleared from that field. There is also a style of house exterior that uses the linear splits in a vertical configuration, albeit with the aid of concrete for mortar. Our first house was 4 large rooms that set into the hill at the back which meant the front of the house set about 4 or 5 feet above the ground due to its slope. Dad used stacked rock pillars under the floor to brace it. He did not make an effort to shape or split the rocks, just used ones that were flattish. Having experienced that and many other stone DIYs in the family and small surrounding community, I completely understand why so few brochs still stand. Not only because not everyone is a master Mason, but I believe that "...good enough for now-we'll fix that later..." would have been most of my ancestors' mantra!

[@thylacinenv]

Very interesting as always. Although you say Broch's are unique to Scotland they do resemble the Nuraghe in Sardinia.

[@jeremiahshine]

And Gobekli Tepe!

[@sophiejones3554]

And Norman mottes. "Circular tower inside a wall" is basically the default Celtic large building design. There were a lot of Celtic tribes, living in a lot of different places, so there are a lot of variations on that idea. And since it's a really good design, a lot of these buildings survive.

[@pitbladdoassociatesltd]

Croft houses on the west coast of Scotland even up to the middle of the last century were community built. Not all members were “qualified” tradesmen.

[@roosterbooster6238]

Nothing has changed 😂😂😂😂

[@JeweLinHisHans]

People in the ancient world were no doubt smarter, healthier, and stronger than we are. There was no option to be lazy. You had no choice but to figure it out, solve your problems, and work...or perish. They also had plenty of time to use their brains, to contemplate, to consider. No TV, no internet to distract, no entertainment venues, etc. their brains probably worked much better than ours do. The stakes were high for them all the time, they couldn’t afford to get it wrong.

[@drxym]

It would be cool for them to build an entire broch with iron age techniques and experimental archeology. Think of Guedelon Castle in France, but with a broch. Not only educational but a potential tourist attraction.

[@paulosilva3350]

It seems incredibly similar to the ones we can find in Sardinia and Azores.

[@hermes_logios]

And the South African stone circles.

[@pdyt2009]

It's not "an archaic looking spirit level". It's a rather normal plumb level.

[@murkyseb]

That was so interesting! I wonder why lots of them were near the sea? I know the shores diminished a lot but still

[@chicktait5544]

Food source? shellfish and fishing?

[@julianshepherd2038]

Transport was mostly by water

[@julianshepherd2038]

@@lmccampbell can't afford London?

[@helenamcginty4920]

@@julianshepherd2038 yes indeed. The sea was the highway of the time.

[@Grubnar]

@@helenamcginty4920 ... and still is.

[@stevedavy2878]

Archeologists are very good at coming upwith theories. What does annoy me at times is that they move in tight groups, and often miss the obvious. I like this idea that Broch builders made themselves a kit of spirit levels. They seem to ignore that people with lifetime skills developed an " eye" for the job. Evidence of this can be seen in boat and shipbuilding, complex curves and a perfect symmetry were created with a well developed line of sight

[@paulhargreaves9103]

Brilliant comment….. here n Lancashire we call it “the rack of the eye” every tradesman is proud to use experience and judgment.

[@BalthazarMyrrh70]

Ancient Egyptian statue work, ancient scrollwork all speak of a meticulous eye 👁‍🗨

[@flamencoprof]

2:09 That should be "Jamb", not "Jam". As per Wikipedia "A doorjamb, door jamb (also sometimes doorpost) is the vertical portion of the door frame onto which a door is secured."

[@aviationsongs]

Hope they get to build a full sized broch again, amazing project!

[@Dishfire101]

The Picts arrived in today's Scotland about 6000 years ago they were the builders❤

[@cleverusername9369]

I quite enjoyed the music in this episode. Very groovy, found myself involuntarily dancing a wee bit. Also the presenter looks like he could be Jude Law's older brother who got into history instead of acting.

[@Bobblenob]

It is surprising the stone was not reused over the years

[@60secondscotland.78]

There were mostly robbed of stone for house. Most of them are now piles of stone.

[@remilenoir1271]

But it was. Where do you think all the missing parts of these ruins went ? To the moon ?

[@BalthazarMyrrh70]

Make for a lovely bit of rock garden, one trunk full at a time 😂

[@JTL1776]

Can we get videos like this on Crannogs. And Other Stone Structure in Scotland from prehistory to pre industrial times.

[@StevenSmith-qz9cl]

The foundation layout of the last Broch in the film looks similar to the ancient sites found in South Africa. Refer to Michael Tellinger films.

[@IrishCinnsealach]

Those ruins you refer to are the ruins of Great Zimbabwe which was founded in the 9th century AD

[@charlesarmstrong5292]

Its truly amazing how these early Scottish civilisations (first century BC) applied basic geometry to their massive constructions. By comparison the similar Great Zimbabwe in Africa was only constructed in the 11th Century AC.

[@debbralehrman5957]

What a cool project. I know this is a year old. I wonder how things are coming along? Thanks for sharing this.

[@andrewmcphee1795]

If you are serious about learning more about Brochs then check out the Caithness Broch Project

[@iainmaclean612]

Check them culls out! :)

[@grahamturner1290]

Fascinating stuff,! 👍

[@deejannemeiurffnicht1791]

It'd be so lovely to have full-size replicas made of these amazing settlements. Also, there are so many of the Scottish Castles which should be refurbished with the woodworks without which we usually get a wrong impression of what almost all of them really looked like. (A-frames were used by many iron age cultures to lift stones high with few people. but many history folk seem to bypass this obvious and simple, but very very ancient means of erecting, and lifting stones.) (Did you know the stone humanoids at Rapanui (Easter Island) were ''walked'' to their destinations? The bottoms of each statue were designed as it transpires, so that a small group of people could tilt them side to side/back to front,. in a rhythmic, tilting manner, so that the statues would ''walk'' to their end point. So, the old legends about the ''giants' 'walking' there were not quite fables at all.)

[@pachomiussinanicus1728]

Reminds me the Battanian style of Lord hall in Bannerlord. The interior style looks alike a cave

[@deejannemeiurffnicht1791]

It now appears that long before there was much cultural centering down south around Stonehenge and similar centres, that the far North West and North Eastern parts of Scotland held an older culture which slowly , then suddenl;y migrated southerly to eventually end up as Stonehenge culture. Niel Oliver does an excellent BBC archaeology show on it, and focused upon, in particular, and still very much on-going so far as the current research goes, around the Ness of brodgar site not too far from the Stones. It is AMAZING. Especially now that well researched artistic impressions of it's buiidings and structures are coming to light. And shows a similar grasp of stone work as the, later, brochs did, and appears to show it as a culture which may have seeded the coming 'british' neolithic age, spreading as it did southerly. It is still not exactly clear why this culture suddenly stopped. Whether voluntary, or perhaps forced due to water-level changes? Who knows yet? .). It may be possible the later 'Pictish' peoples may have some descendency from them. We shall see. But we don't really quite know. So much of trhe Picts histories and tales were wiped out by Scots and Britons/Celts A recreation of how the main settlement may have appeared: i0.wp.com/www.scottishportal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/flk9514892853.jpg?ssl=1 there seems to also be a special religious stone arrangement very nearby too. The BBC Niel Oliver show should give you the basic footing on this one, and there will be plenty of up-to-date findings and interpretations if you simply websearch ''Ness Of brodgar 2024'' Remember, these sites pre-date stonehenge, and the pyramids! WOW!

[@leohorishny9561]

The things you can do without spending time watching TV, or on the internet. Or reading even.😉

[@blackhoundrise8431]

These look similar to Zimbabwe ruins. Very similar stone colour and “brick” size and shape. Very interesting similar build in Scotland and in Zimbabwe. Thousands of of years old. Mystery

[@nightjarflying]

Wrong! How is it a mystery? The Zimbabwe ruins are not "thousands of years old" - the building of the African towers started around 1100 AD so the Brochs are much older, three times taller & two to three times greater in diameter. If you want to build a hollow tower the strongest shape is a cone - so there's absolutely no mystery here.

[@edmukai]

Quite Excellent

[@54mgtf22]

Love your work 👍

[@25Soupy]

Interesting to see how my ancestors lived prehistory.

[@Brellowcrop]

Incredible

[@johnhenderson1443]

I really think the bases of the Brock was made to support a far higher structure , For seeing very far , very good defensively :)

[@lanzi655]

Thank you so much for this very interesting documentary video. I want to learn much more about.

[@Immerteal]

Saw the thumnail. Looks like an obvious castle design to me. hope i could help.

[@vgang3605]

i saw those up in north scotland very impressive

[@stephaniejooste3879]

I recently found out more about my Scottish Ancestors and I'm impressed with how much of their ingenuity was carried through into the modern world. I never knew my love for the sights I've always admired and still wish to visit were literally in my blood. Scotland, I'll come visit you and bring with me a piece of my birth place.

[@keithlordofalbascotland3371]

We're all excited for your visit canna wait 😁

[@vixtex]

Thank you!🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@secondhandrose6214]

How bloody interesting! TY 🏯🏰⛰

[@hermes_logios]

The foundation remnants look like the stone circles in South Africa that Tellinger talks about.

[@DavidFraser007]

Interesting, they are a bit further north than where I'm from, but I find them fascinating. Congratulations to the English chap for not renaming them Broks.

[@mainerockflour3462]

That last structure near the ocean with all the convoluted rooms going nowhere resemble the buried and semi-buried, ancient, stone "corrals" located by the 100s of thousands in South Africa generate strange energies.

[@philipdaelman1684]

Thanks from Belgium .

[@maxasaurus3008]

Is there much of a difference between these and the mot and bailey layout?

[@mikeford963]

How is anything newer than the Egyptian Dynasties classed as "Pre-History"? Pre-history is usually referencing a period of time BEFORE writing was created.

[@oldthudman]

Much like the later "KEEPS" still seen in some town centers especially in Italy......Werer actually "safe houses" for the towns people...... Some Castles also had Keeps....

[@Lovelylove4everyone]

It's where they used to keep Haggis to harvest their eggs, duh.

[@NaeMuckle]

You'd put those slabs on timber beams and loft them up. You wouldn't build a ramp to get them up. Two brickys could get that up there without any tools

[@josephwarra5043]

Perhaps our grandfathers had a bit more skill and intelligence than we give them credit for and maybe they didn't spend all day on their "smart" phones playing candy crush and dead bunny like we do.

[@eldareldar7174]

When you dig up fresh sand stone that has moisture, it is easily shaped.

[@ricofico]

Reminds me of the ones in Corsica.

[@yesterdayschunda1760]

Why does this guy talk as if this structure being built without mortar is a bad thing? It has survived thousands of years without mortar and it doesn't look at all like it fell down on its own. Seems like some history is being suppressed here, this structure dates back to the bronze age or earlier not the iron age.

[@MrTryAnotherOne]

The word " Brochs" sounds very similar to the german word "Burg" (fortified site). I wonder if there is any connection.

[@iainmaclean612]

Yes they have the same root. 'Burg, Borg, Brough, Broch' all the same word. we take the word broch from the vikings who settled in the north of Scotland and named these structures Brochs from the Old Norse 'borg'

[@themadfarmer5207]

Love the lady's scottish accent. Somewhat Glaswegian??

[@metorilt]

No

[@iainmaclean612]

That's a highland accent from Betty Hill Sutherland.Ill tell her you said that it will make her day!

[@beachboy0505]

House Castle 🏰

[@cristianocastagno9680]

Have you seen in comparison the so called Nuragic structures situated in Sardinia, possibly built in the same period ?

[@tyrell1984]

That design is very similar to how they lookin Ethiopia as well

[@IDontBuyIt50]

I am just always happy to see anything built long ago that some jackhole doesn't automatically say was either a temple or an observatory. Look, three stones stacked on top of each other, yep....must be the remains of a temple. Look, if you look up in the sky you will find there is at least one star in alignment with it....Eureka.....we know the whole story.

[@royalspindrift]

The music is a bizarre choice contrasting the subject…. Otherwise fantastic production.

[@ElinT13]

I do not know why we nowadays can only think of darn ramps to get heavy stones moving. Didn't the rapa nui teach us that there are much better ways than ramps and rollers?

[@johnharrison6745]

In the thumbnail, it looks like a GRAIN-BIN. 😉

[@plasticjock1090]

As a dry stone waller (dry stane dyker) and having built dry stone wall with stones up to 5 tonne (with excavators!) all over Scotland and having investigate many a broch... There is one critical feature you or your expert either haven't noticed or failed to mention and it extremely important to understand and that why they laid stones way they did.. Also there are broch structures in an European country that I have visited and there is a surprising similarity.. The dimensions, the style of stone work, the size of stone etc.... Like any structure people die and the original use that is assumed could be completely wrong and also the date of building.. This is only an opinion but with some proof.. Your documentary is very interesting and worth a 2nd opinion or debate on all the arguments to the how, why, when and what of brochs.. Many people have different opinions and they are all worth while discussing..

[@Kenshiroit]

That was Sardinia, Italy. Look for Nurages

[@phoenixkali]

I was scrolling down looking for someone who had experience stonewalling. I only did a 3 day course but I learnt a great deal about choosing the size and layout of stones and techniques for lifing and moving stones with just a jack or iron bar. And cooperation. Great days and insights. I never look at a stone wall the same way again.

[@Kenshiroit]

these are Nurages, has anybody done a study onthe similarities of the two structures?

[@debrarudolph8911]

Never heard of them in my life. Glitch in the matrix

[@editedforprivacy207]

I like to imagine these towers were just High land hot boxes.

[@umwhatthistime]

They made a circle with a post and line. - no sh*t !

[@annedonnellan6876]

Similar in Galicia Spain and lough gur Ireland

[@СергейДерябин-о9у]

Prehistorical castle...

[@niemandkeiner8057]

The reconstruction is so sloppy compared to the real broch. Edit: represents the lower quality ones, I suppose.

[@yodaz101]

Those what are left of people's houses....you are looking at the skeleton... They had rendering and roofs....

[@leecoates3674]

12:46 Not the correct way to lift a heavy load lol, lift with your legs man

[@greenjack1959l]

They resemble the Sardinian Nuraghes.

[@brydon5721]

If he thinks a third of a wall is impressive at Glenelg he should see the broch at Mousa.

[@yesterdayschunda1760]

All built without mortar and it shows great signs of weathering. You sure it comes from the iron age and not from before Roman times? I am guessing the dating comes from artifacts found from around that time period in the area right? But all that says is the site was also inhabited by later settlers does it not because this is a completely different style of contruction than anywhere else in England. There is no mortar being used.

[@iainmaclean612]

The Iron Age dates from 800BC to 300AD

[@readthetype]

Nothing says _“prehistoric Scotland”_ like a thumpin’ R&B riff…

[@nemo6686]

Receding slopes are "iconic" now?

[@secularsunshine9036]

*Let the Sunshine in*

[@darrenmorgan870]

Yes he did know what he was doing when that stone was set level because a few years ago they knew how to set stones level,

[@jonejo8578]

what were they for?

[@Jesse-cx4si]

I could watch 2 hours on broch history

[@CrowSpirit1977]

Prehistoric though?? Is that the right word?

[@qwertykeyboard7640]

Its not that mysterious. Scotland would have been largely wooded tribal and dangerous. If you build one of these things your clan and animals are safe inside from predators and other clans . We have similar things in ireland only instead of stone they made artifical islands

[@alan6056]

These look similar to the ones in Africa, and in other pRts of the world ,archeology has started finding from thousands of years ago,,.

[@rcfokker1630]

it's not clear to me what these buildings were used for.

[@cleverusername9369]

The guy did specifically say they were storerooms, homes, community centers, marketplaces, etc

[@metorilt]

What are multistorey buildings with good secuirty normally used for? They are apartments for families and the local community. She even said they were used to store food and valuables hence the big strong door with a lock. Stop the raiding parties getting and cutting your families throats and stealing all your goods. They probably did a bunch in those buildings.

[@jeremymcnatt6319]

People were stronger back in the day, it's possible they just picked the stones up themselves. I've heard of Covenantors and Highlanders capable of throwing boulders.

[@voidremoved]

Towers, skyscrapers... It is refreshing to hear ancient structures referred to as anything other than tombs or temples. Are you sure these are not temples? NGL they kinda look like tombs... 😂

[@Psychol-Snooper]

Roughly the same age as the Parthenon. Looks like the Scots/Picts were about 2000 years behind the Minoans... er... could the Picts write? Do we know?

[@sinisterteaser4464]

The Picts couldn’t write but they used sort of pictograms (pun not intended) carved into stone that you can find all over north east Scotland though most are in museums. It’s not really known what their exact purpose was or what the symbols meant but it’s interesting anyway

[@Psychol-Snooper]

@@sinisterteaser4464 Those are beautiful, though from about three thousand years after the brochs.

[@h-Qalziel]

The Picts could write. They had a writing system called Ogham, probably borrowed from the Scots who came over from Ireland. There are multiple stones in Pictish areas which are written in a unique variant of Ogham, slightly different to the Ogham used in Ireland, and are some of the only records left of what the Pictish language was like. I should say, however, that these brochs were built before the Picts could write, in fact before Picts even existed. The people then would probably have been called the Caledonians (a name gifted by the Romans, who came a few centuries later), however, nothing is really known about them. There are also towns in Scotland (in Orkney especially) dating back 5,000 years, which are some of the best preserved neolithic settlements in Northern Europe. These would have been built by the Beaker People. But, as you say, all of this pales in comparison to the civilisations of Southern Europe.

[@kanjisan9965]

Many years ago, as a child I visited Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. There was a case with a model of a broch and a typewritten card which told me that the builders of these structures were a bit mysterious, as not much was known about them. After this I am no wiser.

[@neilfleming2787]

try 'jambs' and not 'jams'

[@mephista55]

Try The Book of Hiram about Mason's. Usually observatory for stars we're build a long shores.

[@thegrimmer]

Food storage