Mandy writes: Three weeks ago, the broch was just a big jumbled heap of stones. Now it is a big jumbled marvel of stones. Here are three of the marvels.
Firstly, some of the broch stones are now not stones. Pieta has made a very convincing wedge to prop up one of the lintels, inside the entrance passage way, replacing the extremely ugly pillar of stone that had been put there sometime in the past. Pieta’s stone is a fake, made of steel, epoxy glue and sand. I don’t recall ever having met a fake stone before. I hope future generations of archaeologists are as awed as I am.
Secondly, many of the stones used to build the broch are Muckle Great Chuckies. They are at the limit of what ordinary people could move. I spent some time today watching four big guys tug a big stone, and I concluded that the broch builders were braw chaps. Either that or they had heavy lifting gear. Or perhaps both.
Thirdly, not only are the stones heavy, they are many. Very, very many. John Barber has calculated that there are 1600 tonnes of stones tumbled inside the broch. And many stones to the tonne. Sadly, at this stage, we must leave them there.
And underneath them, many mysteries remain.
Follow the rest of the dig diary (which is very expertly and entertainingly written) at
http://www.aocarchaeology.com/ldap/project-diary/
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road