Land, stone, trees, identity, ambition: The building blocks of brochs

Tanja Romankiewicz

doi:10.1080/00665983.2016.1110771

Land, stone, trees, identity, ambition: The building blocks of brochs

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract / Description of output

Brochs are impressive stone roundhouses unique to Iron Age Scotland. This paper introduces a new perspective developed from architectural analysis and drawing on new survey, fieldwork and analogies from anthropology and social history. The study of architectural design and constructional detail exposes fewer competitive elements than previously anticipated. Instead, attempts to emulate, share and communicate identities can be detected. The architectural language of the broch allows complex layers of individual preferences, local and regional traditions, and supra-regional communications to be expressed in a single house design. The proposed ‘productive households’ model moves beyond ideas of competing elites at times of stress, and invites a new debate by expanding a more complex broch concept beyond the Atlantic core.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-29
Number of pages	29
Journal	The Archaeological Journal
Volume	173
Issue number	1
Early online date	25 Nov 2015
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/00665983.2016.1110771
Publication status	Published - 18 Dec 2015

Access to Document

10.1080/00665983.2016.1110771

Romankiewicz-AJ-2015-land-stone-trees-identity-ambition.pdfAccepted author manuscript, 617 KB

1 Chapter
1 Conference contribution

Revisiting Glenelg a century after Alexander O Curle: Reconstructing brochs in treeless landscapes
Romankiewicz, T. & Ralston, I., 31 Dec 2021, Gardening time: Monuments and landscape from Sardinia, Scotland and Central Europe in the very long Iron Age. Stoddart, S., Aines, E. D. & Malone, C. (eds.). Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, p. 65-74 (McDonald Institute Monographs: Conversations).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Open Access
File
Kühn im Konzept, phantasievoll mit Resourcen: Architektur-archäologische Analyse am Beispiel eisenzeitlicher Rundbauten in Schottland
Translated title of the contribution: Boldness of conception, fertility of resource: Architectural-archaeological analysis on the example of Iron Age roundhouses in ScotlandRomankiewicz, T., 6 Jun 2018, KunstHandWerk: Beitraege der 26. Tagung AG Eisenzeit gemeinsam mit der Keltenwelt am Glauberg und der hessenARCHAEOLOGIE im Landesamt fuer Denkmalpflege Hessen in Bad Salzhausen - 3.-6. Oktober 2013. Wefers, S., Balzer, I., Augstein, M., Fries-Knoblach, J., Later, C., Ludwig, K., Tappert, C., Trebsche, P. & Wiethold, J. (eds.). Langenweissbach: Beier & Beran, Archäologische Fachliteratur, p. 151-166 16 p. (Beiträge zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte Mitteleuropas; vol. 84).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

Open Access
File

3 Public Engagement – Public lecture/debate/seminar
1 Participation in conference
1 Public Engagement – Media article or participation
1 Participation in workshop, seminar, course
More
- 1 Invited talk

Brochs: the amazing drystone towers of Iron-Age Scotland
Dimitris Theodossopoulos (Assessor)
12 Jun 2020
Activity: Academic talk or presentation types › Invited talk
Radio Participation: BBC Radio Shetland: A History of Shetland - The Story of Brochs
Tanja Romankiewicz (Speaker)
1 Feb 2017
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Public Engagement – Media article or participation
Highland Council's Highland Archaeology Festival: Recent Archaeological Discoveries and Research Conference
Tanja Romankiewicz (Speaker)
15 Oct 2016
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Public Engagement – Public lecture/debate/seminar

Tanja Romankiewicz
- School of History, Classics and Archaeology - Chancellor's Fellow and Lecturer in Archaeology
- Archaeology
Person: Academic: Research Active

Cite this

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Land, stone, trees, identity, ambition: The building blocks of brochs

Abstract / Description of output

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Research output

Revisiting Glenelg a century after Alexander O Curle: Reconstructing brochs in treeless landscapes

Kühn im Konzept, phantasievoll mit Resourcen: Architektur-archäologische Analyse am Beispiel eisenzeitlicher Rundbauten in Schottland

Activities

Brochs: the amazing drystone towers of Iron-Age Scotland

Radio Participation: BBC Radio Shetland: A History of Shetland - The Story of Brochs

Highland Council's Highland Archaeology Festival: Recent Archaeological Discoveries and Research Conference

Profiles

Tanja Romankiewicz

Cite this