Stairway between the double walls of Dun Carloway. The best preserved Iron Age broch in the Wester Isles, Isle of Lewis.
The Carloway Broch, also called Dun Carloway, is the best preserved Iron Age broch in the Wester Isles. A broch is an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure of a type found only in Scotland. Brochs include some of the most sophisticated examples of drystone architecture ever created, and belong to the classification "complex Atlantic Roundhouse" devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s. Built around First Century AD, the double-walled structure is remarkably well preserved. Although partly ruined, the dry stone walls are about 7 metres high at the tallest point. The base of the broch is about 15 metres in diameter and the walls taper upwards. The double walls are about 3 metres thick and contain stone stairways leading to upper floors which were probably wooden. It is thought that the structure would have had a thatched roof pf some type.
Size: 3456px × 5184px
Location: Near Carloway, west coast of Island of Lewis, Western Isles, Scotland.
Photo credit: © Robert Murray / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: age, archeology, atlantic, broch, carloway, complex, dry, dun, dwelling, fortified, historic, house, iron, isle, lewis, roundhouse, scotland, stairway, stone, wall
