Crannog

A crannog is the name given in Scotland and Ireland to an island, either artificial or natural, which may have been used from the Iron Age through to the early Medieval period. The name can also be used to refer to wooden platforms erected on shallow loch floors, although understandably few remains of this sort have been found.

The choice of an island as a home is thought to have been for defence as well as the availability of food in the form of fish nearby. They seem to have been built at the same time as the brochs, the wags[?] and the larger roundhouses[?].

The highest concentrations of crannogs (in Scotland) are found in several lochs within Dumfries and Galloway region, although many have been found in the highlands as well.

• See the crannog centre (http://www.crannog.co.uk) pages, for more information
• The RCAHMS (http://www.rcahms.gov.uk) (Royal Commission for Antiquities, Historical Monuments Scotland) pages have a searchable database of all scheduled archaeological sites in Scotland, including crannogs.