400 - Linn an Iarainn – Iron Age (2800 – 1200 years ago)
In the Iron Age, status and fear seemed to be the reason for a new architecture, which included brochs and wheelhouses. The buildings were drystone and complex, requiring remarkable skill and manpower to construct. There are brochs in Uig, as well as semi-underground wheelhouses that were built in sand. There is evidence of iron working in Uig. Iron weapons were important for both defence and attack, in these violent times. Later the brochs and wheelhouses were partly dismantled, and the people lived in small cellular structures inside the main walls.
Photo © Rhona Macleod – Dùn Bharabhat
Drawing © Alan Braby – Dùn Bharabhat