the brochs

Dun Carloway, on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland,
via the Scotsman.



from "Towers of stone – the brochs of Scotland" Caroline Wickham-Jones, an Orkney Islands anthropologist says that

Brochs comprise circular stone towers, apparently built to house the elite of a community and also to provide safety for everyone in a time of need. There is an element of display in their size, as well as an element of defence. They developed out of a tradition of circular stone dwellings, enhanced by master builders who knew exactly how to make the most of local stone resources...
They provided precisely for the needs of the resident Iron Age communities. This was a time of local enmity and petty warfare and it was a time when power was exercised through control and conspicuous symbols of wealth.