Ardestie Earth House

Ardestie Earth House

Ardestie Earth House
Arbroath Road
Monifieth
Dundee
Angus
Scotland
DD5 4HB

Tel: 0131 668 8600
E-Mail: hs.members@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Web: Ardestie Earth House

About Ardestie Earth House

An Iron-Age oddity

Despite their name, earth houses were not dwellings but stone-lined underground passages. Where they have been excavated, as at Ardestie, associated buildings have been found at ground level. Earth houses are also known by their French name, souterrains (‘undergrounds’) and are found in Brittany, Cornwall and Ireland as well as Scotland.

Earth houses are found all up the eastern seaboard of Scotland, from Lothian to Shetland. There are distinct regional types. They range from the massive earth houses of Angus and Perthshire, averaging some 46m2 in area, to those in the Northern Isles providing a mere 5m2 of floor space. The latter date from around 400 BC, whereas the likes of Ardestie were most likely built in the first two centuries AD.

Ardestie Earth House is over 24m long, with a stone-lined drain in its floor. Excavation in the 1950s revealed a number of small, round stone buildings at ground level. One of these buildings gave direct access into the earth house below.

Hiding place or storage space

All sorts of suggestions have been advanced as to what earth houses were used for, including hiding places. But they were probably little more than cold stores, their cool, dry conditions suitable for grain and other produce. The far larger size of the Angus and Perthshire examples perhaps reflects the greater fertility of the surrounding farmland. Their dating, in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, suggests that they might have been built to store grain for the occupying Roman army. Excavation has shown that most were filled in deliberately around AD 200, as if they were no longer needed.

Highlight

•The completeness – comprising not just the earth-house passage but foundations of the associated buildings above.