New Caithness broch will reach 50 feet and follow plans devised in 600BC

Why did ancient Scots build their mysterious skyscrapers'? Now modern Scots are to build one to help us find out

If Ken McElroy gets his way, a very unusual feature will soon be added to the wild Caithness landscape at the northern edge of mainland Britain. He plans to re-create a 50ft-high iron age skyscraper", known as a broch, one of the most intriguing and mysterious types of building ever constructed in the British Isles.

The elaborately built, drystone structures stood several storeys high and were erected only in Scotland, with hundreds being constructed between 600BC and AD100. The identities of the people who built them remain a mystery.