Sam Scott-Moncrieff, University of Edinburgh
Summary of research
Although identity in prehistory is an inherently intricate concept, the interrogation of complex architecture is one of the most effective means archaeologists have of recreating said identities. Embracing this, my research will seek to chart the creation of and changes within Iron Age (800 BC to 400 AD) identity by analysing complex architecture and associated artefacts in three research regions before, during and after the Roman occupations.
The three research areas in question – Lowland Scotland, North Wales and Argyll & Bute – had differing relationships to the empire.
- Lowland Scotland was occupied by Rome during the first and second centuries AD, and subjected to occasional invasions in the third century and beyond (such as the campaigns of Septimius Severus, 208–211 AD).
- North Wales was contained within the Roman province of Britannia for most of its existence (43–411 AD).
- Argyll and Bute was located wholly outside the empire, but was surely not immune to Roman influence and the exchange of Roman goods, as suggested by the Roman artefacts found on Iron Age sites such as Dun Mor Vaul and Kildalloig.
Complex architecture is represented within my research by Complex Stone Roundhouses (ie brochs, duns, ‘ringforts’ and thick-walled stone homesteads), crannogs, monumental timber roundhouses and certain types of enclosed settlements. Since this research will analyse structures throughout Scotland, the non-regional term Complex Stone Roundhouse (CSR) is preferred herein to the more traditional Complex Atlantic Roundhouse (CAR).
What seemingly united these architectural forms is a desire for monumentality or an appearance of monumentality, expressed through features such as elaborate gateways, causeways and building height. These features in themselves were often dependent on vast quantities of building materials and defensible visible locations, such as hilltops or artificial islands. Lastly, in some cases, complex architecture utilised time dense sites, such as the siting of CSRs within older Iron Age hillforts eg Torwoodlee and Edin’s Hall (Scottish Borders), Castle Craig (Perthshire), and Hurly Hawkin (Angus).
Monumentality and site re-use have previously been associated with identities of societal power and ambition (Knapp 2009). It is the working assumption of this thesis therefore that the complex architecture and associated artefacts of the Scottish and North Welsh Iron Ages may serve as a prism to view societal complexity, a complex management of the past in the Iron Age, and complex identity overall.
Background
My current research is an architectural and geographical expansion upon my MSc dissertation that charted the profusion, distribution, and chronology of CSRs in the Scottish Lowlands south of the highland boundary fault. Building upon the work of earlier scholars (Macinnes 1985; Armit 2003; MacKie 2007; Romankiewicz 2011), my MSc research also encompassed routinely overlooked sites excavated by early archaeologists, such as the duns at Aitnock and Coal Hill in North Ayrshire (Smith 1919). In total, 93 sites were identified, suggesting the existence of these structures in the Lowlands is not as anomalous as has sometimes been suggested (Sharples and Parker Pearson 1997, 254). The key finding, confirming trends seen in earlier research (Hunter 2007; Ingemark 2014), identified evidence for complex Iron Age practices prior to and during the Roman occupations. This indicated that Roman interventions in Lowland Scotland were tangential to the construction of CSRs. Instead, these monumental structures were seemingly constructed to assert identities tied to status, resource mastery, and ancestry within Iron Age society, rather than in opposition or deference to Rome. Assuming that Iron Age architecture is proxy evidence for identity, this thesis will expand upon efforts to chart diversity and developments within complex architecture (Cook et al 2019) and identity (Henderson 2007) whilst eschewing the concept of ‘Romanisation’.
Research questions
- How did complex architecture develop throughout the Iron Age in the three research areas?
- Were identities being shaped in reaction to Rome, independently, or in conjunction?
- Were the acts associated with Lowland CSRs – eg conspicuous consumption practices, ritual deposition and deliberate destruction – repeated elsewhere?
- It is natural to ponder what role complex architecture played once completed and extant. However, the act of building itself – its significance and what it implies in identity terms – is sometimes neglected. This is particularly apposite in the case of crannogs, which often lacked a monumental appearance but required a monumental effort to construct. What could the visible investment of labour, materials and time tell us specifically about identity in the Iron Age?
- Complex architecture has been construed as representative of ‘elites’, engaging in competitive or communal construction activities. Can this be argued within the data set? Additionally, in societies arguably dominated by interpersonal, “face-to-face exchanges” (Barrett and Foster 1991, 47), what does the construction of complex architecture tell us about the priorities and identities of those who occupied them?
- What, if anything, do Iron Age monuments contribute to modern identity formation?
Modern identity formation
Prior to studying for my masters, I was a youth worker involved in outreach and engagement sessions with groups of young people aged sixteen to thirty. During my masters and doctoral research to date I have served as the postgraduate representative for the Edinburgh Archaeology Outreach Project, a student group that delivers interactive archaeology themed workshops for children and teenagers who lack access to heritage experiences. Using my experience in both roles and building upon my research into prehistoric identity, I plan on exploring the role that ancient monuments play in modern identity creation. This will be achieved by selecting a case study site, and engaging with local groups (eg metal detectorists, youth groups, museum volunteers) through rapid ethnographic techniques and structured engagement events. It seems apparent that monuments were of great importance to identity construction in the past. This poses the question – what, if anything, do ancient monuments mean to people and identity in the present?
Future Research
During 2024, I intend to complete a database of all sites that theoretically meet the definition of complex architecture, with a view to selecting case studies for in depth analyses. In addition, I will also complete a literature review which considers the tricky issue of architectural terminology, the Roman context for each respective research area and the central issue of Romanisation and identity. Lastly, as a relative newcomer to archaeology, I am looking forward to increasing my field experience by taking part in a number of excavations at Iron Age sites in Stirling and the Scottish Borders.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the team at ScARF for generously awarding me a bursary to attend the Scottish Archaeological Forum Conference in October 2023. This enabled me to meet fellow doctoral candidates, academics, field archaeologists and civil servants working within Scottish archaeology, and to gain valuable experience in a conference environment.
Bibliography
Armit, I 2003 Towers in the north : the brochs of Scotland. Stroud: Tempus.
Barrett, J C and Foster, S M 1991 ‘Passing the time in Iron Age Scotland’, in Hanson, W S and Slater, E A(ed) Scottish archaeology: new perceptions: 44–56. Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press.
Cook, M, McCormick, T, McAlpine, J, Greenshields, R, Cook, G and McLean, A. 2019 ‘A new look at the Late Prehistoric settlement patterns of the Forth Valley’, in Romankiewicz, T, Fernández-Götz, M, Lock, G and Büchsenschütz, O (ed) Enclosing Space, Opening New Ground: Iron Age Studies from Scotland to Mainland Europe: 87-100. Oxford; Havertown, PA: Oxbow Books.
Henderson, J C 2007 The Atlantic Iron Age : settlement and identity in the first millennium BC. London: Routledge.
Hunter, F 2007 Beyond the edge of the empire: Caledonians, Picts and Romans. Rosemarkie, Scotland: Groam House Museum.
Ingemark, D 2014 Glass, alcohol and power in Roman Iron Age Scotland. Edinburgh: National Museums of Scotland.
Knapp, B 2009 ‘Monumental Architecture, Identity and Memory, in A. Kyriatsoulis (ed) Bronze Age Architectural Traditions in the East Mediterranean: Diffusion and Diversity: 47- 59. München; Weilheim: Verein zur Förderung der Aufarbeitung der Hellenischen Geschichte e.V.
Macinnes, L 1985 ‘Brochs and the Roman occupation of lowland Scotland’, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 114: 235-249.
MacKie, E W 2007 The Roundhouses, Brochs and Wheelhouses of Atlantic Scotland c. 700 BC – AD 500, Part 2, Volumes I and II. Oxford: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd.
Romankiewicz, T 2011 The complex roundhouses of the Scottish Iron Age : an architectural analysis of complex Atlantic roundhouses (brochs and galleried duns), with reference to wheelhouses and timber roundhouses. Oxford: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd.
Sharples, N M Parker Pearson, M 1997 ‘Why were brochs built? Recent studies in the iron age of Atlantic Scotland’, in Gwilt, A and Haselgrove, C (ed) Reconstructing Iron Age Societies: New Approaches to the British Iron Age: 254-265. Oxford: Oxbow Books.
Smith, J 1919 ‘Excavation of the forts of Castlehill, Aitnock, and Coalhill, Ayrshire’, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 53: 123-134.