Artificial Islands Surrounding the British Isles Were Utilized for Gatherings

On islands created by humans, ancient nobility partied.

A new study¹ suggests that elites may have utilized ancient artificial islands in the British Isles known as crannogs to display their power and wealth through lavish parties, just like waterfront mansions are status symbols for today's wealthy and famous. An artificial island created within a lake, wetland, or estuary is known as a crannog. Between 4,000 and 3,000 B.C. and 16th century A.D., hundreds of crannogs were made in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, by expanding a shallow reef or an elevated area of a lake bed to a diameter of roughly 100 feet using any natural material that was at hand, including stone, wood, or even peat.

The archaeology of crannogs is a relatively recent endeavor since wetland sites are much more challenging to investigate than those on dry land. To learn more about the function of these crannogs, the authors of the current research examined one site in Scotland (from 500 B.C. to A.D. 10) and two in Ireland (from A.D. 650 to 1300). They did that by taking samples from each site's halo, or the area around the center where the artifacts are distributed.

A layered model of a lake crannog and the nearby sediments. (Image credit: Brown, A.G. et al (2022); Adapted and updated from Brown et al. (2021); Antiquity Publications Ltd)

Along the lakes and estuaries where crannogs were constructed, there was a lot of trade and communication. According to indications of feasting and numerous artifacts, such as pottery, discovered there, crannogs developed into elite gathering places in the medieval era after being used as farmsteads during the Iron Age.