(The photo of Nybster above is by Bill Fernie)

 

Looking forward to Andy Heald’s talk ARCH project officer Susan Kruse said:

 

“ Brochs are one of those buildings that really capture people’s imagination, although they date from more than 2000 years ago they have an deceptive elegant simplicity that would be admired by many architects today. Within that simple stone tower, there were both living quarters and a strong defensive structure. Brochs contain features that we can relate to today, a hearth, stone cupboards and storage areas built into the walls. The double wall containing stone stairs to the top of the broch tower was an impressive achievement, and the statement of power that this made to neighbours is easy to imagine.

 

Andy Heald was similarly enthusiastic, commenting:

 

“We had a great response to our community excavation at Nybster this summer. The site is one of the most important broch settlements on mainland Scotland and lies close to the Caithess Broch Centre at Auckengill, so the dig was a great opportunity for locals and visitors to Caithness to get involved in hands-on research. I’m looking forward to sharing some of the excitement of our work with the audience in Dingwall.”