Abstract
Crannogs are types of artificial islands, made or significantly modified by human agency, which, with the exception of one example in Wales, are found only in Scotland or Ireland. The majority of dated examples were built in the first millennium BC but they continued to be built and used episodically until the early modern period. They generally take the form of a foundation of organic materials and stone carrying a platform of timber logs or planks raised above water-level (Fig. 23.1). The island may be connected to the shore by a timber causeway. On top of the timber platform, buildings were erected made of timber, and in later periods, of stone. The great archaeological asset of the crannog is that organic materials such as structural timbers, wooden artifacts, textiles, and food debris discarded in the lake are preserved in cold anaerobic conditions.
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Crone, A., Cavers, G. (2015). Crannóg Investigations in Scotland. In: Carver, M., Gaydarska, B., Montón-Subías, S. (eds) Field Archaeology from Around the World. SpringerBriefs in Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09819-7_23
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