Crannogs

October 17, 2015—Loch Tay, Perthshire, Scotland

There are as many hypotheses about crannogs as there are people researching them. No one knows for sure how they were originally built or why and how they were used. These artificial islands seem to have been used for some 5,000 years right up through the 17th century in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

The photo, from the Scottish Crannog Center on Loch Tay in Perthshire, shows one vision of a reconstructed crannog built on pylons driven into the lake bed. The majority of crannogs were likely artificial islands built by driving a ring of pylons into the bed of a lake or river and filling it with rocks and other material, then tamping it down until firm. Where wood was scarce, walls of stone were used to encircle the underwater structure. Buildings could then be constructed atop them. Oddly, crannogs were often built and used when natural islands existed nearby.

A prevailing theory is that they were defensive in nature. A small home or homestead could be built out in a lake or river and accessed by a narrow causeway, gangplank, or boat. And while this seems like a great plan for restricting access to your home and goods, the flaw in this plan becomes obvious when your realize that it also prevents your escape should one or several boats full of people decide to silently row up to your dwelling at night and ambush you or shoot flaming arrows into your thatched roof from the shore (even the bows at the time could have easily struck most of the crannogs from the shore). You’re trapped. So the idea that prestigious families would have made themselves and their goods sitting ducks seems foolish to say the least. These are not forts, towers, or castles; they’re just open islands with simple houses on them. In my view, they and their livestock would be safe from animal predators, but they’d be more vulnerable to human ones. Crannogs required a lot of labor to build and maintain, requiring regular repairs against erosion and settling, for something so easily defeated by the simplest of attacks. And it wouldn’t even require a large force. Two or three men could simply set it afire and wait for the occupants to flee down the causeway or burn to death. It’s a terrible defensive strategy if that’s what it was built for.

While there is a case to be made that they make a display of wealth and power for elites, it’s harder to make the case that elites would have wanted them if they made them vulnerable, they were grossly impractical, or they were hard to defend. Crannogs don’t seem to have been comfortable living spaces, they required a lot of initial labor to construct, and a lot of effort to maintain, and though we can’t get inside the thoughts of their builders, the benefit in terms of prestige and defense seems negligible. Ceremonial centers with some greater ritual or mythical purpose for those in power, perhaps, but not simply ostentatious displays of power.

Which brings me to my next point. The woman who ran the tour at the Scottish Crannog Center also mentioned some interesting details that piqued my curiosity. She said they found opium seeds, which the archaeologists took to be medicinal.

The use of opium, while it certainly has its medical applications, was more well-known as an aid to spiritual and religious rites in the ancient world, namely for ecstatic experiences. It would have been imported from a great distance at great expense initially, and likely not for everyday use. And while the ancient world did mingle the sacred with the profane more than we do today, I think a question can be asked whether something else might have been going on at these sites.

The first clue, for me, lies in the location. Why build on water, or rather out of the water? Particularly, why create an island when perfectly good islands already exist nearby? What if the artificial islands were seen as liminal places, between the earth and water? What if… they served a purpose beyond that of mere platforms for building, but had a symbolic, magical, or spiritual significance a natural island could not fulfill? And then who would require such a place to live and work? What if… these were set aside as spiritual communities for whatever class of priesthood the people living at the time and place may have had (e.g. druids.)?

As such, they would have been immune to attacks even from hostile tribes, so they would not have needed defensive measures—for example, druids, vates, and bards, i.e. priests, seers, and poets/chroniclers, had special immunity and were said to be able to move freely between all the kingdoms, whereas other subjects needed special permission to travel across borders. They would have had no trouble marshaling the community resources to build and maintain them.

Access to water is also important for communication and commerce. Of course, chiefs and common people would also benefit from the commerce afforded them by access to waterways, but the real communications hub of the ancient world was its religious authorities. In the same way the Oracle of Delphi knew—and influenced—the intricate politics of the Hellenistic world and beyond, the priests, poets, and seers of the ancient Celtic courts would have been the diplomats, journalists, and spies of their world. They were the ones who would have needed—and taken control of—access to information throughout the kingdoms. Living on these waterways was not just a spiritual matter, it was highly practical for solidifying their own position and power, and for strengthening the kingdom they served.

It has been common for religious and monastic communities to separate themselves from the secular world on islands, and for druidic communities in particular, the most famous example being the large center based on Anglesey in Wales destroyed by the Romans in 60CE. But numerous examples from the Christian era exist, from Lindisfarne (of Viking raid fame) on a tidal island in east Northumbria to the even more remote monastic community of Skellig in Ireland.

Anyway, I' am by no means an expert on crannogs and I’d love to learn more about them. Information is in short supply. All of this was just was just a passing “what if?” thought I had when visiting crannogs, as they are something of a mystery and I still don’t think a convincing case has been made for why they were built or how they were used. I always cringe a little when archaeologists speak definitively about their interpretations of cultures no one alive has ever witnessed. The truth is, we’re all just making educated guesses, and it’s always a good thing to reexamine what we think we know, especailly when it doesn’t add up. If anyone knows more, let me know!