Photo: View from Dunstaffnage Castle Ramparts, Scotland CREDIT geograph.org.uk SOURCE Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)
from Scotsman.com
By MOIRA KERR
Published on Sunday 3 June 2012 00:00
THEY had fridges, state-of-the-art heating systems and possibly even access to a sauna. Archaeologists have discovered that Bronze Age people, at a settlement on the west coast of Scotland dating back up to 4,000 years, had a range of mod cons that would be envied by home owners today.
A dig on the site of a new housing development near Oban has uncovered what are believed to be some of Scotland’s earliest cold storage larders in six Bronze Age roundhouses. A team led by Dr Clare Ellis, from Argyll Archaeology, claim the roundhouses at Dunstaffnage are the first in Scotland to have ring ditches inside the structure. These may have been used as cellars to cool food – a precursor to the refrigerator.
They also have vents leading into the central hearths which would have allowed the occupants to regulate their heating, while outside are the remnants of what could be a very simple form of sauna. . . . Read complete Report
