Brochs fresh: plan for new stone tower to shed light on Scottish history

Experiment aims to understand how iron-age brochs developed and what they signified

Stone upon stone, the towering embodiment of their builders' wealth, status or hunger for defence, Scotland's iron-age brochs have fascinated and confounded archaeologists for centuries.

The precise constitution of these architecturally complex roundhouses, and why they remain unique to Scotland, is the subject of ongoing research, but there is broad agreement that a broch is a drystone tower built between around 2,500 and 1,800 years ago, in the mid-iron age, often with cells and stairs built within the walls.