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Crichton Souterrain

Souterrains and dates

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tiompan T
tiompan Oct 8, 2007 16:05:41
Replying to Rhiannon

Rhiannon wrote:
Your nice plan of Crichton Souterrain, Paulus, made me look at Martin's notes about the site. Then I realised, well if it includes stone with Roman carvings, then well it's got to be later than Roman has it not. But I am right in thinking that some souterrains are genuinely Iron Age? or is it all wishful thinking?
some photos of the carved stones here
http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/pls/portal/NEWCANMORE.NEWCANDIG_COLL_LIST_IMAGES.show?p_arg_names=pnumlink&p_arg_values=54797&p_arg_names=pcat&p_arg_values=I&p_arg_names=puid&p_arg_values=59566
Little doubt that the majority are IA but they certainly went in for re-use of marked rocks , more usually N-EBA rather than Roman though .

F FourWinds
FourWinds Oct 8, 2007 17:04:18
Replying to tiompan

tiompan wrote:
Little doubt that the majority are IA but they certainly went in for re-use of marked rocks , more usually N-EBA rather than Roman though .
Obviously there's a dought of re-used Roman stones in Irish souterrains, but it's common to find either ogham stones or RA re-used in them.

A lot of the Irish ones are supposed to date from the early Christian period, built in response to Norse raids. I'm not so sure myself. The largest concentration seems to be around the Armagh/Lough/Down border region and down into mid-Louth. These areas are away from major waterways that you'd expect the Norse chappies to travel along. Obviously, they could have come storming across the land, but it's more likely that they were built by one kingdom in particular in response to attacks from others (I think). The more limited use in other areas that were definitely attacked regularly by the Norsemmen.

All the above could be bollocks of course. There's a great book on Irish souterrains that I think is now out of print. Always regret not buying it when it was first published.