Fig. 190.—Section of Chamber in Broch of Kintradwell, showing rude vaulting of roof. (From a Drawing by Rev. Dr. Joass.)
The Broch of Kintradwell, three miles north of Brora, excavated by Rev. Dr. J. M. Joass,[[81]] was situated on a natural terrace close to the edge of the declivity which marks the old sea-margin of the east coast of Sutherlandshire. Previous to its excavation it was a rounded grass-covered knoll. Within this mound, formed of the debris of the structure, the basement of the broch was found entire to the height of about 14 feet. The circular wall, 18 feet in thickness, enclosed a central space 31 feet in diameter. The doorway was 7 feet high, with inclined instead of perpendicular sides, so that the width was 3½ feet at the bottom and 3 feet at the top. The entrance passage went straight through the wall, and was provided with checks for two doors, the first at 6 feet within the outer face of the wall, and the second 8 feet farther in. These checks were formed by wall-fast slabs whose edges projected, the wall being also slightly set back at their inner faces, and a corresponding slab on edge projected a few inches above the floor across the passage-way to check the bottom of the door. Between the two doors a guard-chamber opens on the right of the passage. The sill of its doorway is 2 feet above the floor, the opening 4 feet high by 2 feet wide, and the passage into the chamber 4½ feet in length. The guard-room itself is circular in form on the ground-plan, 7 feet in diameter, and 11 feet high, and roofed in the usual way by overlapping stones (Fig. [190]). The whole length of the passage leading through the wall into the central area is 18 feet, and the lintels covering it are 8 inches apart. This feature is frequently seen, and as there is often a vacant space which may have formed an apartment over the lintels of the passage, the openings left between them may have had a special purpose in connection with the defence of the doorway. To the left of the main entrance was an oval-shaped chamber 11 feet long and 10 feet high, constructed in the thickness of the wall; and, still farther to the left, were the remains of the staircase, also constructed in the interior of the wall, with an oblong chamber at the stair-foot. Thirteen steps of the stair remained, but the galleries above were gone. In one side of the area was a well 7 feet deep, with steps leading down to a point 3 feet from the bottom. A stone cup (Fig. [191]), presumably the common drinking-cup of the establishment, lay near the steps of the well. In its constructive features and arrangements this Broch is similar to all the others that have been described. But it also presents some features which have not hitherto been noticed, because they have either been wanting or only obscurely presented in previous examples. The inner wall of the court or central area was faced by a roughly-built wall about a foot in thickness, rising to a height of about 8 feet, and there terminating and forming a scarcement projecting from the main wall. This inner shell or scarcement, although bonded with the main wall at the door-corners, was not so throughout. It was evidently an addition to the original wall built against its inner face all round, at some time subsequent to the construction of the main wall.[[82]] We shall meet with this feature in other examples, and in circumstances which will clearly demonstrate its secondary character.
Fig. 191.—Stone cup from the Broch of Kintradwell (5 inches diameter).
Again, on the outside of the tower, to a distance of 60 feet from its base, the ground was covered with the foundations of irregularly-built constructions, with passages and doorways communicating with an access leading up to the main entrance to the tower. These outbuildings were much less massive, much more irregular, and much less carefully constructed than the main building. They were chiefly clustered about the entrance to the tower, and a little to the north-west of the principal group of them was a shallow open cavity lined with flat stones set on edge, and containing the fragments of a human skeleton and an iron dagger-blade. In one of the outbuildings also there were found a human skeleton and an iron spear-head. Portions of eight other human skeletons were found in and about the ruins, mostly at a depth of from 2 to 2½ feet under the turf which covered the mound, but not in such circumstances as would necessarily imply that they belonged to the period of the occupation of the Broch.[[83]]
Fig. 192.—Oval pebble of quartzite marked by use as a point-sharpener, from the Broch of Kintradwell (3¼ inches in length).
The relics found in this Broch included a variety of manufactured objects in stone and bone, bronze and iron. The stone objects formed a very considerable and striking group. Among them there were upwards of fifty querns or hand-mill stones, and an immense quantity of oblong naturally-shaped stones from 3 or 4 to 15 or 18 inches in length, water-worn originally, but also wasted at the ends by use as hammer-stones or pounders. A number of the largest of these were found set in the ground in rows both inside and outside of the tower. There were also a large number of stone mortars, irregularly-rounded blocks, with wide-mouthed rounded cavities, worn smooth by use. Most of the other stone articles were small. They consisted of the drinking-cup already mentioned (Fig. [121]) as a bowl-shaped vessel, neatly made, with a handle at one side; a thin smoothly-polished disc of quartzose sandstone, about 2½ inches diameter, similar to others of mica schist, and other materials that have been found in Brochs and Crannogs, but of undetermined use; a small black whetstone or burnisher, smoothed and polished by use; a small flattish ovoid pebble of quartzite (Fig. [192]), having indentations produced apparently by point-sharpening on its opposite sides; a quantity of fragments of rings or bracelets of lignite probably obtained from the Brora beds, and a considerable number of spindle-whorls of various forms and sizes. The bone implements were mostly of the nature of handles made of deer-horn, and spatulæ, which Dr. Joass has suggested may probably have been potter’s tools. No implements or ornaments of bronze were found, but the presence of the metal was determined by the finding of three fragments of well-made crucibles with adhering portions of the melted metal. The iron objects were a spear-head, a dagger-blade, a knife-blade, a socketed chisel, and several fragments of implements of indeterminate character. The only other object of metal discovered was a small and thick ring of lead a little more than an inch in diameter. The fragments of pottery found were for the most part portions of coarsely-made vessels, all unglazed and unornamented. The refuse of the food of the inmates was present in considerable quantity. The land animals represented among these remains were the reindeer, the red-deer, the roe, the ox, the sheep, the goat, the pig, the fox, the wild-cat, and either the wolf or a very large dog. The marine animals were the whale, the grampus, the porpoise, the dog-fish, and the cod and haddock, while the remains of such edible shell-fish as the oyster, the mussel, the cockle, the periwinkle, and the limpet were very abundant.
Fig. 193.—Hammer-marked Plate of Brass found in the Broch of Carn-liath (11½ by 7½ inches).