Hundreds of ancient human - made miniature island speckle the waterways of Scotland and Ireland . Once believe to have been built and repurposed as dwellings over the course of 2,500 year , new carbon 14 dating report in the journalAntiquityshifts that timeline by thousands of years , suggest that these “ crannogs ” date back to the time of Stone Henge and potentially served as ritualistic offerings .
It started in 2012 when a local resident physician decided to dive around the lake beds of one of these islet located in the Outer Hebrides . During his time underwater , he found well - preserved and nearly entire ceramic corporation scattered around the island . Further geographic expedition by researchers found similar clayware at five other crannog sites in the area . harmonize to a statement sent to IFLScience , scientist focalize on three of the five site – Loch Arnish , Loch Bhorgastail , and Loch Langabhat – by combine flat coat and subaquatic appraise with photogrammetry , paleoenvironmental coring , and excavation . Further radiocarbon dating of the pottery suggests that the land site was in exercise between 3600 and 3300 BCE .
research worker believe this location was “ special ” and challenges the current understanding of Neolithic settlement . monolithic efforts in constructing these sites by enchant and pile massive boulders suggest these isle might have service ceremonial purpose , a degree further represent by the heedful underwater emplacement of kept ceramic vessel by the people at the sentence . Many of the ceramic vessels were either still intact or wear out into large fragment , suggesting that there was a taxonomic and ritualized manner in which they were put into the water supply .
Acrannogis an ancient lake domicile found throughout Scotland and Ireland antecedently believed to have been built to provide homes to families . domicile were often built atop rock pile on stilts over the pee , while other time rock were pile onto the lake bed to build an island with a rock business firm on top . Today , they look like tree diagram - covered midget islands or stony cumulus hidden under the surface of the piddle , according to theScottish Crannog Centre .
More than 570 known land site have been recorded in Scotland and Ireland so far , but this location in the Outer Hebrides is renowned for tombs and settlements whose kinship and purpose of atypical distribution remain unclear . The determination suggest that there may very well be many more eccentric of these settlement and monument across much of the realm . Only about 10 pct of Scotland and Ireland ’s crannogs have been radiocarbon dated and only about 20 percent have been dated at all .
