| Title: |
Torwood Broch
|
| Subtitle: |
the reassessment of a Complex Atlantic Roundhouse near Falkirk |
| Issue: |
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 149 |
| Series: |
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
|
| Volume: |
149
|
| Page Start/End: |
25 - 50 |
| Downloads: |
|
| Licence Type: |
ADS Terms of Use and Access
|
| DOI |
|
| Publication Type: |
Journal
|
| Abstract: |
This paper presents the first modern account of Torwood’s artefact assemblage and the most accurate survey of the site to date. These are combined with the results of a small-scale excavation on a newly discovered outer rampart and the publication for the first time of a reused concentric ring-marked stone and a carved face. In turn, these are combined with the results of a broader reassessment of the late prehistoric settlement in the Forth Valley. This review reveals a far greater range and variety of potentially contemporary architectural forms than previously recognised, which is argued to have arisen from conspicuous consumption in the context of local competition, which in turn was aided by the increased resources resulting from the proximity of the Roman Empire. It is further argued that Torwood may be pre-Roman in origin. The context of the concentric ring-marked stone may hint at contemporary Iron Age ritual practice, while the large proportion of local sites associated with both destruction by fire and the presence of large artefact assemblages suggests an underlying common practice regarding the closure of a site after its active use, which may share features with the destruction of souterrains in Fife and Angus |
| Year of Publication: |
2020
|
| Locations: |
| Site: |
Torwood Broch |
| Place: |
Falkirk |
| District: |
Falkirk |
| Country: |
Scotland |
| Country: |
United Kingdom |
|
Grid Reference: 283335, 684986 (Easting, Northing)
|
|
| Subjects / Periods: |
|
IRON AGE
(Historic England Periods)
|
Broch
(Monus)
|
|
ROMAN
(Historic England Periods)
|
Ring-marked stone
(Find)
|
|
PREHISTORIC
(Historic England Periods)
|
Ramparts
(Monus)
|
|
|
Ritual Practice
(Event)
|
|
|
Artefact Assemblages
(Find)
|
|
|
Complex Atlantic Roundhouse
(Monus)
|
|
| Source: |
ADS Archive
(ADS Archive)
|
| Relations: |
|
| Created Date: |
22 Feb 2021 |
