The Ancients16 Apr 2023

Iron Age Scotland: Clachtoll Broch

Across northern Scotland, you can still see the skeletal remains of prehistoric skyscrapers known as brochs. These enigmatic drystone towers dominated the landscape 2,500 years ago - yet so much of their story remains shrouded in mystery. One of the most incredible structures still visible today is Clachtoll Broch, home to a family of Iron Age farmers before tragedy struck. With a fire ravaging the country side and home, it's a site of incredible devastation. So what can we learn about it today?

In this episode, Tristan travels to northern Scotland to meet archaeologists Gordon Sleight and Dawn McLaren, whose incredible discoveries at Clachtoll have shed new light on the brochs and the people who built these extraordinary ancient skyscrapers. Looking at the archaeology, architecture, and the landscape - they help build a picture of what life was like over two millennia ago.

The Senior Producer was Elena Guthrie

The Assistant Producer was Annie Coloe

Mixed & edited by Aidan Lonergan

For more Ancients content, subscribe to our Ancients newsletter here.

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - enter promo code ANCIENTS for a free trial, plus 50% off your first three months' subscription. To download, go to Android > or Apple store >

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(638)

Egypt's Book of the Dead

For over a thousand years, the Book of the Dead guided ancient Egyptians through the afterlife. Filled with powerful spells these remarkable texts were designed to help the dead overcome the dangers o...

9 Juli 50min

The Trojan War

The story of Achilles, Odysseus and the siege of Troy has captivated audiences for millennia, but behind the legends lies a deeper mystery. Was this epic war a myth, a memory of a real Bronze Age conf...

5 Juli 1h 9min

The Flood Myth

Thousands of years before the story of Noah and the Ark, people in ancient Mesopotamia were already telling tales of a devastating divine flood. Written into the Epic of Atrahasis, this ancient story ...

2 Juli 56min

Delphi: Centre of the Ancient World

For more than a thousand years, Delphi was considered a cultural centre of the ancient world. Every year a throng of pilgrims climbed the slopes of Mount Parnassus to seek the words of Apollo through ...

28 Juni 55min

Stonehenge with Ken Follett

What if the secrets of Stonehenge lie not just in the stones, but in the people who hauled them there?Tristan Hughes sits down with best-selling novelist Ken Follett to uncover and imagine the lives o...

25 Juni 46min

The Library of Alexandria

The Library of Alexandria was one of the most important and most celebrated buildings of the ancient Mediterranean. It was a great hub of learning and literature and made Alexandria one of the ancient...

21 Juni 42min

Boudica and the Iceni

In 60 AD Roman Britain was very nearly brought to the brink. Cities burned, authority crumbled, and for a brief moment one woman challenged the might of the Roman Empire. Her name was Boudica.Today, T...

18 Juni 56min

The Cambrian Explosion: When Life Began?

538 million years ago, life on Earth changed forever. In an evolutionary burst known as the Cambrian Explosion, complex animals rapidly appeared in the oceans, laying the foundations for almost every ...

14 Juni 1h