| Accommodation Clubs Independent Instructors ~ no details |
 There
are many lochs (lakes) in Scotland, many of them are much beyond
recreational diving depths.
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Emergency tel:
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999 or 01752 209999 for the DDRC. (Diving Diseases Research Centre) |
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| Picture copyright is stated on our Marine Life pages ... and these are by Tam Boyd. |
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| Join - The Scottish Trust for underwater archaeology |
Do you know what a Crannog is? There are 18 in Loch Tay together
with a replica house and visitor centre. If you dive them please
look, don't touch, leave what you find for the archaeologists. A crannog is an iron age house, built 2,600 years ago on stilts in the shallow areas of Scottish and Irish lakes. Carbon dating puts them between 400BC -600BC. There would have been a pier from the shore to a circular, wooden thatched home on stilts in the water. You may find the remains of the piles where the pier and house used to be. The cold waters and peaty silt of the loch preserve the old timbers well. They are often circled by large boulders which were used to help old the pier timbers in place. Archaeology divers cannot wear fins as it disturbs too much. The houses were quite large as it would hold a family or more. The timber piles were driven into the clay. As they would have manually driven in a pile it loosens the clay allowing water between the clay particles. The poles can be 3 - 5 foot into the clay. After a day or two the clay settles and hardens and a 25 foot pole is firmly anchored. Typical finds are: Pine tapers (sticks of wood for lighting), a wooden plough, square dishes with animal and plant remains. Archaeology is not pulling bits or treasure from the earth, its learning about the people and how they lived.
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