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The Mystery of Scottish Brochs and Irish Round Towers (Megalithic)
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Tilo Rebar


In: Sussex
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Following a comment about Brochs by Boreades on the Mega-Talk thread, I have been trying to discover what they were used for. So far I haven't found a compelling reason being given for why they were constructed from the stuff I've read about them by orthodox archaeologists.

The same problem applies with Irish Round Towers, and I have so far not been able to find a convincing reason for them being built. However, I'm not sure that Scottish Brochs and the Irish Towers were built with the same purpose in mind.

Brochs
There are ~600 identified Brochs in Scotland, with the majority found in the far Northwest. They are dated as Iron Age and perhaps were built by the Picts. One of the best preserved ones can be found of the remote Isle of Mousa...




Irish Round Towers
The Irish Round Towers, or Cloigthithe -- literally "bell house") were built between 9th and 12th century, according to the orthodoxy. Approximately 120 sites have been identified in various states of repair. One of the best preserved examples is at Clondalkin, some 10 miles from Dublin...




I find it fascinating that both types of structure have parallel features with modern constructions...




Perhaps the membership of the AEL could shed some light on why our predecessors put so much time and effort into constructing these marvels of engineering and how they fitted into the economy of their times.
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Ishmael


In: Toronto
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Very reminiscent of a famous and controversial structure in New England.



The Newport Tower is said by some to have been built by "Vikings".
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Wile E. Coyote


In: Arizona
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These Cornish examples look similar but smaller?

http://www.cornishmineimages.co.uk/consols-and-united-mines-gallery/
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Tilo Rebar


In: Sussex
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Ishmael wrote:
The Newport Tower is said by some to have been built by "Vikings".

Good find, Ishmael, they could have been crafted by the same hand that built the Brochs. The Viking connection is strange - Newport tower built by the Vikings, Irish Round Towers built by Irish to protect from Vikings and Brochs built by Picts or Vikings to protect from Romans. However, time lines look weird.

None of the structures seem suitable for defence, but all could have been used as defended strongholds for valuables.

What are your thoughts on the purpose of the Newport Tower?
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Tilo Rebar


In: Sussex
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Wile E. Coyote wrote:
These Cornish examples look similar but smaller?

http://www.cornishmineimages.co.uk/consols-and-united-mines-gallery/

Another good find - thanks Wile...



It was apparently a clock tower housing a mechanism which rang a bell to signal the end of shifts at the mine.

Irish Round Towers were also supposed to have a bell, so perhaps these towers were used to rouse the lazy Irish workers?
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Mick Harper
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In: London
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01s1czf/the-flying-archaeologist-2-norfolk-broads

Only one day left to watch this. The first ten minutes show that Ormesby St Michael (as predicted by TME) is a big Megalithic site (it being the end of the Michael Line). As opposed to orthodoxy's previous view that there was no megalithica anywhere hereabouts.
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Boreades


In: finity and beyond
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Ishmael wrote:
The Newport Tower is said by some to have been built by "Vikings".


"Vikings" indeed.

Here at Chateau Boreades (providing temporary accommodation to pilgrims on The Ridgeway), we have just had a visitor who is a member of Templars Four Progress.

http://www.templars4progress.org/

Much joyful discussion was had on the similarities between Megalithic and Templar trade routes by sea, and the links between the two that straddle thousands of years. Our visitor was of the opinion that the Knights Templar are not the only folk that preceded Kristophor Kolumbus across the Atlantic.
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Boreades


In: finity and beyond
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Clearly there are similarities between Scottish Brochs and Irish Round Towers. Because (err) they are both round and tall.

Except that the Scottish Brochs seem to have been built to defend the Scots from the invading Roman Army, but a thousand years before the Irish thought to do something similar.

Or are they not similar? Or, has anyone found any convincing reason why, a thousand years later, the Irish should suddenly start having huge erections?
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Hatty
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In: Berkshire
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Tilo Rebar wrote:
It was apparently a clock tower housing a mechanism which rang a bell to signal the end of shifts at the mine.

Irish Round Towers were also supposed to have a bell, so perhaps these towers were used to rouse the lazy Irish workers?

The Irish word cloch (Scottish Gaelic clach) which means stone, rock looks and sounds like 'clock' and is used for menhirs such as Clach Am Teampuill on the isthmus of Tarasaigh (Taransay)



The menhir faces another 'cloch', Clach Mhic Leoid, on a rocky promontory directly across the Sound of Taransay.



Some sort of relationship between cloch/clach and loch/lough can be surmised, tides and landing times being of most assistance perhaps, though cloch also means testicle so it might be a load of bollocks.
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Boreades


In: finity and beyond
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Tilo Rebar wrote:
Irish Round Towers were also supposed to have a bell, so perhaps these towers were used to rouse the lazy Irish workers?


More likely a watch tower and an alarm bell to warn of danger. But what dangers were the Irish facing then? To have motivated folks to build towers so high, it must have seen like a very big danger. Was it Vikings?

Unless anyone can advise me differently, I'm assuming the towers were so tall to make it easier to signal from one to the next. Yes/No?
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Tilo Rebar


In: Sussex
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Boreades wrote:
Tilo Rebar wrote:
Irish Round Towers were also supposed to have a bell, so perhaps these towers were used to rouse the lazy Irish workers?

More likely a watch tower and an alarm bell to warn of danger. But what dangers were the Irish facing then? To have motivated folks to build towers so high, it must have seen like a very big danger. Was it Vikings?

Unless anyone can advise me differently, I'm assuming the towers were so tall to make it easier to signal from one to the next. Yes/No?

Not sure defensive watch/signal towers is the correct interpretation. If you wanted to avoid being raped and pillaged by a group of sex starved Romans/Vikings/???, I don't think it would be wise to build a high tower which could be seen and heard for miles around. Unless, of course, I wanted to advertise the presence of a brothel or use it as a shift clock to wake and recall far flung workers.

They could also have simply been used as landmarks for day/night navigation and all the hoards of bloodthirsty invaders were just figments of ancient 'historians'. Sometimes a bit of gory action is needed to spice up an otherwise boring tome to boost sales.
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Boreades


In: finity and beyond
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Tilo Rebar wrote:
Not sure defensive watch/signal towers is the correct interpretation.


You're right, my mistake. I've slipped back into almost the same old ortho-military "hill fort" explanation for hilltop enclosures. But as signal towers, or a communications network, still plausible?

Philip Callahan, in his book "Ancient Mysteries, Modern Visions" makes a significant point i.e. the Irish Round Towers started around 700AD, well before the Vikings, and as defensive works they would have been useless.
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N R Scott


In: Middlesbrough
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Were these Brochs windmills??

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Boreades


In: finity and beyond
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I'm still surprised that AEL folk haven't made the connection between Brochs and factories for metal-working and trading. It's out there if you search for it.
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Mick Harper
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In: London
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I thought you were an AEL folk and therefore ideally placed to do the legwork on our behalf.
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