Clumlie Broch is an
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
broch located on
Mainland, Shetland, in Scotland ().
Location
Clumlie Broch is located in
Dunrossness
Dunrossness, (Old Norse: ''Dynrastarnes'' meaning "headland of the loud tide-race", referring to the noise of Sumburgh Roost) is the southernmost parish of Shetland, Scotland. Historically the name Dunrossness has usually referred to the area o ...
, on the southern part of
Mainland, Shetland about 8 kilometres north of
Sumburgh Airport.
It stands on a low rise on flat arable ground.
The broch is at the centre of an abandoned croft,
which encroaches upon the ruins.
Description
The broch has an external diameter of 21 metres and an internal diameter of about 8 metres.
Much of the western side of the site is hidden by a stone dyke, but the entrance passage and a guard cell are visible.
The walls currently stand around 2 metres high.
Excavations
Clumlie Broch was partially excavated by Gilbert Goudie in 1887, who also restored part of the walling.
Goudie discovered a stone
cist
A cist ( or ; also kist ;
from grc-gre, κίστη, Middle Welsh ''Kist'' or Germanic ''Kiste'') is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle Ea ...
75 centimetres above the floor of the broch and concluded that the broch had been used for burials after it had fallen into disuse.
Finds included stone implements,
quern stones,
whetstones,
spindle whorls, and
hammer stones.
There were also many pottery fragments and animal bones, shells, as well as a fragment of a painted Roman bowl.
References
External links
{{Prehistoric Shetland
Brochs in Shetland
Scheduled monuments in Scotland
Mainland, Shetland