In this adventure we explore and document the ancient abandoned history of an Iron Age Souterrain hidden buried and forgotten under the wild lands of Pitcur Scotland.
Worked on a farm not far from the little village of East Haven when ploughing would pull up huge flat stone slabs that covered a long underground passage which was heading inland from the Elliot golf course.
There are carving on the left at the entrance and also lots of cup marks. When It was discovered there was Samian ware and Roman coins. I live just along the road from the souterrain. I think it was used for safety by the Picts. You get a good view of anyone approaching between the hills. There was a Roman encampment at nearby Campmuir. There are lots of Pictish standing stones in the area. One just along the road and there was also a stone circle nearby which is now gone. You get great views along the road as far as the mountain Schiehallion. Which I believe was a place for the Picts. It is also right beside Pitcur Castle.
As an old English builder who has worked with stone there is a lot of work in that complex and a lot of hard graft, I disagree with the video maker in he said the only means of light would be fire inside these underground houses but most ancient tribes and people knew about candles and beeswax and resins that burnt from certain trees ???? Cracking video and well done.
Yep. Beeswax burns clean so might be a good choice for a minimally vented tunnel if that was the case. I suppose whatever they used had to be available locally and in sufficient amounts,well,unless they could trade for it also.
Iron age houses were built underground for warmth with a small hole above the hearth to let out smoke and the doors were made small to stop heat escaping and attackers from entering the home they would also have a place nearby where they could bury their dead either just outside the front door or in a separate area attached to the house .
These types of houses usually had an entire family including individual residencies for each family unit within the family keeping them all together ,this is why the Scottish people have Clans .
Greetings from New Zealand! Loving the content, absolute legend for getting out there and showing us this ancient history! Hope to visit your beautiful country and do a little exploring myself ❤️
I just watched this on my tv. My thoughts are they were built to be hidden and with that many escape routes to hide their families from invading tribes or the other is it was used as military barracks to stop attacks before coming to their villages or people. This was fascinating and much employed this video. Thank you for sharing this historical find.
I have walked all over Scotland for 50 years, and have visited every Bothy I could find and had meny odd events but, when I walked from the head of Loch Etive to Bonawe.... I was met with an annomily that I could not get my head around, I went back to verify what I had seen the following year and I was just as baffled as the year before.. I camped on both occations in one of these round stone circles with a stone circled like a dry stone wall with what felt like a flag stoned floor that nothing could grow through. I was with my brother and my daughter to walk to Bonawe where we have family. I would love to have someone else look into the the various stone circles about a mile and a half west of Gualachulian past the jetty and before you reach Aiard Trilleachan. I have never came across anything like these before and I was persplixed as to why they where there. about 8 I counted that's just what I saw truely strange. I have never found anything on line about them. Calum McNab
The Knap of Howar in Scotland is estimated at 3700bc and very similar in construction so these could be around the same time or older as the stonework at your site looks much more archaic of a less developed time.
Incredible that this site isn't protected. How amazing that these stones are still there in the formation laid by humans 2,500 years ago. It's possible my ancestors 100 generations back lived there. And I suspect you're right that people did live there underground, for safety (and warmth!). But it would be interesting to know if archeologists have documented and analysed this site for evidence of food, cooking, tools, etc.
I'm so glad I came across this. I live in America and this is my favorite way to travel. Thank you for sharing the history of this beautiful land. Be safe and I look forward to seeing more.
What an amazing place that is...I'm impressed by the massive stones that the people moved to create an underground sanctuary like this. Not being an above-ground structure that could be seen from a distance must have made it much safer from raiders, warmer and protected in bad weather. It's beautiful. Subscribed!
Great video lads. I would love to see a drone shot above these wonderful ancient buildings looking down so we could get a better look at the whole layout & true size of the complex. Thanks again lads. Great video.
Oh, wow, that's a stunning find! We will be up in Scotland in June... I wonder if it was 'deeper' or the floor lower down, if you like. The current floor might all just be dirt/soil that's been blown in over the centuries. I feel that the stones you see around 21.38 might actually be the top of a wall....
Incredibly clever space for protecting all of them. Wondering if the small openings were perhaps multifunctional; escape, air vents, hidden windows to the outside…The first underground apartment complex’s thousands of years ago. Amazing place. I wonder how long it took them to build it?
Thank you for recording this! I love ancient history and it's a lot of fun to pull up sites like this to doodle or as inspiration fodder. When I look for reference I often only get a few still shots and it's so helpful to have a moving tour.
Well Skara Brae was for living underground, so this was probably originally as well; but maybe after the dwellings began to be built on top of the ground, these tunnels and rooms were repurposed for storage - that would make a great cold pantry.
Another point though, about the curved nature of the walls. The ‘Picts’, were some of the best fort builders on a smaller scale, and obviously learned much from their ancestral treks through Europe. (My ancient DNA, can be found in Sweden, from 1,000 BC). We found out, in WW1, that curved, or angled trenches, were easier to defend, given the line of sight, of a rifleman. But in those far off days of Pictish history, where we were always a source of curiosity to any seafarers, sailling up the Atlantic Fascade, we used spears, arrows and axes, so a curved tunnel , 'made to measure', for a wee man or woman, was a doddle, to defend, relatively speaking.
There's a whole underground village on Bodmin moor in Cornwall which had similar structures leading away from it. And on some of the highland islands they've found underground villages.. I'd love to see what ground penetrating radar would show up.
I often thought that mankind in cold or rough climates would of had to go underground for protection. I wish they would of done that in USA's tornado alley. Oklahoma and KS
I LOVE CHANNELS LIKE THIS BECAUSE I LOVE HISTORY. ENDLESS AMOUNT OF LEARNING. BUT THIS CHANNEL HAS A MORE INTIMATE LOCAL FEEL LIKE A VILLAGE PERSON GUIDED A TOUR.MAKES IT EVEN MORE SPECIAL
I’m from the states & I lived outside of London for 2 years. We never got over all the very old historic sites. They were everywhere! These tunnels are amazing! I wonder why they were underground….. was this terrain treeless like it is now? The houses would be warmer in the winter & cooler in the summer without trees.
In the Scottish landscape, we are always subject to cold winds, from any direction. Building a semi-sunken structure, with various types of roofing, was very natural. It is also, very wise, on an island, not to give away, the location your dwellings, as that is where your family are focused. Hence Skara Brae, 3,200 BC, which blended in with the sand-dunes and non-farming, terrain.
The landscape looks a lot like areas in Pennsylvania, USA. I have a LOT of Scottish Ancestry so I love stuff like this. Thank you for going where I have not been able to, and sharing it with us!
It always amazes me how many important archeological sites haven't even been excavated or examined. It's sad we don't know more about places like this. Great video, thank you for sharing
I love the sound of your voice.... you have an awesome scottish brogue. I think I watched the whole video for the sound of your voice more than the history you were unearthing literally haha
As you where coming out there was a flat stone on your right covered in holes or cups in regular rows, rock art is worth noting as it is rare to find undocumented examples. Could indicate ritual use
It's built in the same way brochs were built! The dry stone walls shaped to fit together. It reminds me of Skara Brae too. Do you think there could have been part above ground at one time, and now all that's left is the part under the ground? I was thinking maybe it could have been a broch because of the scale of the circle. Thanks for this great adventure! It makes me want to come to Scotland more than ever, although I don't suppose many farmers would let me go walking around in their fields!
I think everything needed to have multiple purposes. I’m sure the underground areas were for storage as well as a place for protection from the weather also when the English came to kill them in their beds…
So cool, thanks so much for sharing the adventures in time. I love the mystery! It would be interesting to excavate down to the base floor to see if there's evidence of fire, or to find soot on any of the big flat roof stones. But some of them could've been carted off for use in other projects, or they are laying flat underneath the soil build up. That would tell us if they could've been living down there too.
It's much the same in Wales, much of it not recently recorded properly, LiDAR is revealing things that aren't even documented, once you know what you're looking at a whole world is revealed... I live in a large 15c house for which there's no official record despite the fact that it's been continuously lived in
@@BKRlook up ley lines..A lot of these places/structures and subsequent, later buildings were intentionally built in a specific place. The castle could be related.
This should be a protected heritage site, properly maintained and preserved.
Worked on a farm not far from the little village of East Haven when ploughing would pull up huge flat stone slabs that covered a long underground passage which was heading inland from the Elliot golf course.
Did you report it to the local museum?
Yes I reported a few years later after retiring from this farm with a detailed map of its location to Historic Scotland.
@@leprechaun7667 Hello Irish person the farmer kept this find a secret as he did not want to lose that part of his field that's why i had to wait.
Oooo how captivating.
@@LITHx8 I take your reply as sarcasm.?
you sir are a fine man somdeeply involved in the ancient history of Scotland!
He is awesome🎉❤😂
There are carving on the left at the entrance and also lots of cup marks. When It was discovered there was Samian ware and Roman coins. I live just along the road from the souterrain. I think it was used for safety by the Picts. You get a good view of anyone approaching between the hills. There was a Roman encampment at nearby Campmuir. There are lots of Pictish standing stones in the area. One just along the road and there was also a stone circle nearby which is now gone. You get great views along the road as far as the mountain Schiehallion. Which I believe was a place for the Picts. It is also right beside Pitcur Castle.
As an old English builder who has worked with stone there is a lot of work in that complex and a lot of hard graft, I disagree with the video maker in he said the only means of light would be fire inside these underground houses but most ancient tribes and people knew about candles and beeswax and resins that burnt from certain trees ???? Cracking video and well done.
Yep. Beeswax burns clean so might be a good choice for a minimally vented tunnel if that was the case. I suppose whatever they used had to be available locally and in sufficient amounts,well,unless they could trade for it also.
They would put animal fat ,shark or whale liver oil in a big shell or clay bowel burned for light.
Wished you had a drone , an aerial could show so much moe. Thank you for sharing!
I would have said same thing about having drone view it is more valuable and shows the picture of what it look like
This would support the theory that the ancient Picts lived partly underground 😮
Just think a family was there… mom … dad … kids. Born lived and died there. Amazing.
Incredibly fascinating. Thank you for sharing!
Living in america, I am Happy to see how my Relatives Lived. Thank you.
I love watching history from Scotland because most of my family came here to America from Scotland in 1800s
My family came here after surviving Culloden in the 1700's
Iron age houses were built underground for warmth with a small hole above the hearth to let out smoke and the doors were made small to stop heat escaping and attackers from entering the home they would also have a place nearby where they could bury their dead either just outside the front door or in a separate area attached to the house .
Maybe in the future, you could get a small drone and get an aerial view of what the whole thing looks like! Thanks for showing me this
These types of houses usually had an entire family including individual residencies for each family unit within the family keeping them all together ,this is why the Scottish people have Clans .
Greetings from New Zealand! Loving the content, absolute legend for getting out there and showing us this ancient history! Hope to visit your beautiful country and do a little exploring myself ❤️
Its warmer under ground!
I just watched this on my tv. My thoughts are they were built to be hidden and with that many escape routes to hide their families from invading tribes or the other is it was used as military barracks to stop attacks before coming to their villages or people. This was fascinating and much employed this video. Thank you for sharing this historical find.
Good heavens n it’s all still intact n in pristine condition!! ❤❤❤❤ cool
I love to see your enthusiasm for the tangible history around you. Thanks for sharing your finds.
Hey thanks 👍 I'm glad I can share this history and these adventures into wild landscapes.
I have walked all over Scotland for 50 years, and have visited every Bothy I could find and had meny odd events but, when I walked from the head of Loch Etive to Bonawe.... I was met with an annomily that I could not get my head around, I went back to verify what I had seen the following year and I was just as baffled as the year before.. I camped on both occations in one of these round stone circles with a stone circled like a dry stone wall with what felt like a flag stoned floor that nothing could grow through. I was with my brother and my daughter to walk to Bonawe where we have family. I would love to have someone else look into the the various stone circles about a mile and a half west of Gualachulian past the jetty and before you reach Aiard Trilleachan. I have never came across anything like these before and I was persplixed as to why they where there. about 8 I counted that's just what I saw truely strange. I have never found anything on line about them. Calum McNab
I bet time team archeologists would love to know that
Hell man, this is such a beautiful piece of history!
The Knap of Howar in Scotland is estimated at 3700bc and very similar in construction so these could be around the same time or older as the stonework at your site looks much more archaic of a less developed time.
Oh wow I'm so glad I found this channel
Incredible that this site isn't protected. How amazing that these stones are still there in the formation laid by humans 2,500 years ago. It's possible my ancestors 100 generations back lived there.
And I suspect you're right that people did live there underground, for safety (and warmth!). But it would be interesting to know if archeologists have documented and analysed this site for evidence of food, cooking, tools, etc.
Hello everyone from across the miles from here in the states.Ohio
I'm so glad I came across this. I live in America and this is my favorite way to travel. Thank you for sharing the history of this beautiful land. Be safe and I look forward to seeing more.
It's amazing that archeological diggers aren't all over that place😢
Fascinating site! It gives a sense of the beginnings of the importance of Scotland's "loupin stanes"! Thank You for the great film!
What an amazing place that is...I'm impressed by the massive stones that the people moved to create an underground sanctuary like this. Not being an above-ground structure that could be seen from a distance must have made it much safer from raiders, warmer and protected in bad weather. It's beautiful. Subscribed!
Great video lads. I would love to see a drone shot above these wonderful ancient buildings looking down so we could get a better look at the whole layout & true size of the complex. Thanks again lads. Great video.
I leaned something today.
Thankyou....
Have you thought about excavating one of the smaller partially collapsed side rooms? It would be interesting to see if there were any artifacts.
Oh, wow, that's a stunning find! We will be up in Scotland in June...
I wonder if it was 'deeper' or the floor lower down, if you like. The current floor might all just be dirt/soil that's been blown in over the centuries. I feel that the stones you see around 21.38 might actually be the top of a wall....
Could Lydar? show how all the underground trails would go? So interesting.
It may have been something like Skara Brae, a whole village living underground, very interesting.
Just found your channel. This is first video I've seen so far and only half through. I'm hooked already!
Incredibly clever space for protecting all of them. Wondering if the small openings were perhaps multifunctional; escape, air vents, hidden windows to the outside…The first underground apartment complex’s thousands of years ago. Amazing place. I wonder how long it took them to build it?
We can’t understand our ancestors because we rarely face starvation. What amazing things they accomplished to find, store, and protect food.
I'd love to dig and see how far down those walls really go.
These days you can read a scroll without unsealing it.
with ground penetrating radar, you could see the labyrinth without going in.
So glad I found your channel. Scotland is a stunning landscape. Glad tidings from Yorkshire.
That's wild mate, reminds me of Skara brae in Orkney. Deffo going to check this out!
Thank you for recording this! I love ancient history and it's a lot of fun to pull up sites like this to doodle or as inspiration fodder. When I look for reference I often only get a few still shots and it's so helpful to have a moving tour.
Wow…That’s absolutely amazing 💯❤️ Thank You for sharing this!!!
Well Skara Brae was for living underground, so this was probably originally as well; but maybe after the dwellings began to be built on top of the ground, these tunnels and rooms were repurposed for storage - that would make a great cold pantry.
Archeologists need to investigate that site. Maybe they could unearth housewares or weapons, etcetera.
Another point though, about the curved nature of the walls. The ‘Picts’, were some of the best fort builders on a smaller scale, and obviously learned much from their ancestral treks through Europe. (My ancient DNA, can be found in Sweden, from 1,000 BC).
We found out, in WW1, that curved, or angled trenches, were easier to defend, given the line of sight, of a rifleman.
But in those far off days of Pictish history, where we were always a source of curiosity to any seafarers, sailling up the Atlantic Fascade, we used spears, arrows and axes, so a curved tunnel , 'made to measure', for a wee man or woman, was a doddle, to defend, relatively speaking.
There's a whole underground village on Bodmin moor in Cornwall which had similar structures leading away from it. And on some of the highland islands they've found underground villages..
I'd love to see what ground penetrating radar would show up.
I often thought that mankind in cold or rough climates would of had to go underground for protection.
I wish they would of done that in USA's tornado alley. Oklahoma and KS
So much history IS still buried.
I'm happy to see that this blessed area has not been tampered with . More videos please 😊
There had to be a fair amount of people to help lift the stones.
I LOVE CHANNELS LIKE THIS BECAUSE I LOVE HISTORY. ENDLESS AMOUNT OF LEARNING. BUT THIS CHANNEL HAS A MORE INTIMATE LOCAL FEEL LIKE A VILLAGE PERSON GUIDED A TOUR.MAKES IT EVEN MORE SPECIAL
I’m from the states & I lived outside of London for 2 years. We never got over all the very old historic sites. They were everywhere! These tunnels are amazing! I wonder why they were underground….. was this terrain treeless like it is now? The houses would be warmer in the winter & cooler in the summer without trees.
In the Scottish landscape, we are always subject to cold winds, from any direction. Building a semi-sunken structure, with various types of roofing, was very natural.
It is also, very wise, on an island, not to give away, the location your dwellings, as that is where your family are focused.
Hence Skara Brae, 3,200 BC, which blended in with the sand-dunes and non-farming, terrain.
Living underground saved the lives of people's who survived the last Polar Excursion with the heightened severe electrical storms.
The landscape looks a lot like areas in Pennsylvania, USA. I have a LOT of Scottish Ancestry so I love stuff like this. Thank you for going where I have not been able to, and sharing it with us!
It might look like Pennsylvania, but the climate is very different. Very little sunshine in Scotland, summer or winter.
History books say they lived underground for safety and warm in winter and cool in summer…
So interesting! What a beautiful spot!
I had no idea, never seen anything like this until I watched this video. Thank You! ❤ From America
The ground has probably raised up with dust and dirt falling in and around. I wonder how tall the people were then.
Totally amazing ! Thankyou.
Fascinating! Thank you!
I think something made them go underground. Thx !
Thank you, B & Dj ❤
THANK YOU 💕it’s very interesting and beautiful too see.
Wicked!
(For those that don’t understand NZ slang ‘wicked’ means really really cool!)
Yea same in the US. It’s pretty common slang.
Just absolutely amazing. Greetings from US.
It reminds me of the footprint of some of the Iron Age Brochs I visited near Glenelg when I came to Scotland from Australia years ago.
Wonderful site. Thank you.
I would imagine in its time you wouldve been able to walk up straight in those tunnels. Im so curious why they constructed them circular. Amazing
How amazing and they're ingeniously built,just stones stacked on top of each other but with precision.
Thanks for this, fascinating. I live quite near this site. Love archeology ❤
Amazing history. Thank you!
Greetings from The Netherlands :)
Wow, while watching your video I have a grin from ear to ear 😊
It always amazes me how many important archeological sites haven't even been excavated or examined. It's sad we don't know more about places like this. Great video, thank you for sharing
probably defensive pits. so old, it is incredible
I love the sound of your voice.... you have an awesome scottish brogue. I think I watched the whole video for the sound of your voice more than the history you were unearthing literally haha
Amazing, just amazing. So glad I can across this little adventure. Thanks for sharing this find or maybe it’s a “hide”.
As you where coming out there was a flat stone on your right covered in holes or cups in regular rows, rock art is worth noting as it is rare to find undocumented examples. Could indicate ritual use
🧚♀️ 🧚♂️ Memories flooded my soul like magic in the air
Thanks for your uploads. 💜🏴
As an expat living in Australia, this is hame tae me! Love your videos brother!
Thank You for making my viewing time worthwhile!
Thanks
Listening to you speak helped me realize the way Nova Scotian Canadians say "about" is from Scottish roots! Duh haha 😄 how cool
Nova Scotia... New Scotland ha ha
Why haven’t they preserved these sites. Seems no less important than any other ancient ruins
It's built in the same way brochs were built! The dry stone walls shaped to fit together. It reminds me of Skara Brae too. Do you think there could have been part above ground at one time, and now all that's left is the part under the ground? I was thinking maybe it could have been a broch because of the scale of the circle. Thanks for this great adventure! It makes me want to come to Scotland more than ever, although I don't suppose many farmers would let me go walking around in their fields!
Great find very interesting. Something as well built as that could have been a burial place
I think everything needed to have multiple purposes. I’m sure the underground areas were for storage as well as a place for protection from the weather also when the English came to kill them in their beds…
This is so interesting, I'm glad there are still some of the ancient left. I would love to see them some day. Thanks for sharing. 😍
So cool, thanks so much for sharing the adventures in time. I love the mystery! It would be interesting to excavate down to the base floor to see if there's evidence of fire, or to find soot on any of the big flat roof stones. But some of them could've been carted off for use in other projects, or they are laying flat underneath the soil build up. That would tell us if they could've been living down there too.
This is fantastic, I can`t believe they are not being properly investigated and protected
This is another New Grange! Why isn’t it a protected national treasure?
Because people don't cause a threat to it.
Hope Josh Gates will come to see this Historical find....thank U for sharing ....
Me too, that way we'll find out absolutely nothing. Greatest B.S. show on television.
This site would be ideal for drone photography. Maybe landowner would give permission. Love your videos.
Yes but it wouldn't be like walking with him. I love his story's and love for all the history❤
This is so fascinating the narrator is so knowledgeable and interesting. I can't wait for the next video. 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Makes me think of the old Mauri form of defence that used extensive tunnel systems.
This is so cool! I'd love to be able to explore those! Thanks for posting!❤
It's much the same in Wales, much of it not recently recorded properly, LiDAR is revealing things that aren't even documented, once you know what you're looking at a whole world is revealed... I live in a large 15c house for which there's no official record despite the fact that it's been continuously lived in
Wow. I’m SO happy to have found this video!!
Defintely linked to the nearby Castle, its just a couple of hundred metres away.
No it's unrelated history from a completely different time
@@BKR nah come on, every castle has a hidden escape route.
@@BKRlook up ley lines..A lot of these places/structures and subsequent, later buildings were intentionally built in a specific place. The castle could be related.
this is wild! SUPER! watching from NY - should be a protected UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE site - it's really amazing