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Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork
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Visited 25th August 2003: Parking for the Braaid isn't very easy. The nearest lay-by isn't very close to the footpath, so you're forced to walk along the A24, which is quite a busy road. Once on the footpath, it's relatively easy going, but not exactly wheelchair friendly.
Just when you think the prehistoric sites on Mann couldn't get any stranger, along comes a place like the Braaid. As we approached it I was wondering what the hell it was. Stones stick out of the ground all over the place like shark teeth. It's only when you get up close that it begins to make sense.
The Braaid is a settlement, used up until the Viking period, but that's about all everyone agrees on. It contains three structures, one a Viking Long House, one a Viking cattle byre and the other a circle of orthostats with rubble between them. The circle was initially interpreted as a stone circle, adapted for use as a round house in a later period. This would make it the only 'true' stone circle on the island. Modern thinking is that it never was a stone circle, but was built during the Iron Age as a round house.
I really enjoyed this place (even the Viking stones were pleasing). Like most of the sites on the island the Braaid is not busy with visitors. The stones are well placed in the surrounding countryside, and it's easy to sit and ponder it all. It's quite a puzzle.
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Posted by Kammer
7th January 2004ce
Edited 7th January 2004ce
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