Crannog
A crannog[1][2][3] (/ˈkrænəɡ/; Irish: crannóg [ˈkɾˠan̪ˠoːɡ]; Scottish Gaelic: crannag [ˈkʰɾan̪ˠak]) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes, bogs and estuarine waters of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.
[12] Thus, there is no real consensus on what the term crannog actually implies, although the modern adoption in the English language broadly refers to a partially or completely artificial islet that saw use from the prehistoric to the Post-Medieval period in Ireland and Scotland.
[15][16] Previously unknown crannogs in Scotland and Ireland are still being found as underwater surveys continue to investigate loch beds for completely submerged examples.
[21] Today, crannogs typically appear as small, circular islets, often 8–25 metres (30–80 ft) in diameter, covered in dense vegetation due to their inaccessibility to grazing livestock.
The classic image of a prehistoric crannog stems from both post-medieval illustrations[13] and highly influential excavations, such as Milton Loch in Scotland by C. M. Piggot after World War II.
[23] The Milton Loch interpretation is of a small islet surrounded or defined at its edges by timber piles and a gangway, topped by a typical Iron Age roundhouse.
The choice of a small islet as a home may seem odd today, yet waterways were the main channels for both communication and travel until the 19th century in much of Ireland and, especially, Highland Scotland.
They are also interpreted as boltholes in times of danger, as status symbols with limited access, and as inherited locations of power that imply a sense of legitimacy and ancestry towards ownership of the surrounding landscape.
Rather than the simple domestic residences of prehistory, the medieval crannogs were increasingly seen as strongholds of the upper class or regional political players, such as the Gaelic chieftains of the O'Boylans and McMahons in County Monaghan and the Kingdom of Airgíalla, until the 17th century.
In Ireland, crannogs were at their zenith during the Early Historic period,[1] when they were the homes and retreats of kings, lords, prosperous farmers and, occasionally, socially marginalised groups, such as monastic hermits or metalsmiths who could work in isolation.
Despite scholarly concepts supporting a strict Early Historic evolution,[2] Irish excavations are increasingly uncovering examples that date from the "missing" Iron Age in Ireland.
When timber was available, many crannogs were surrounded by a circle of wooden piles, with axe-sharpened bases that were driven into the bottom, forming a circular enclosure that helped to retain the main mound and prevent erosion.
The piles could also be joined by mortise and tenon, or large holes cut to carefully accept specially shaped timbers designed to interlock and provide structural rigidity.
[4] In other types of crannogs, builders and occupants added large stones to the waterline of small natural islets, extending and enlarging them over successive phases of renewal.
The bones of cattle, deer, and swine have been found in excavated crannogs, while remains of wooden utensils and even dairy products have been completely preserved for several millennia.
[39] The UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts, Alison Phipps of Glasgow University and African artist Tawona Sithole considered its future and its impact as a symbol of common human history and 'potent ways of healing' including restarting the creative weaving with Soay sheep wool in 'a thousand touches'.
