Buiston crannog

The Buiston crannog stands in a drained loch in North Ayrshire, once a flooded hollow in low-lying pasture near Mid Buiston Farm. The site lies south of Stewarton and north of Kilmaura, beside the A735 road. It was first recorded as a natural lake in a dead-ice hollow about 100 metres across. The crannog itself was built on a raft of stones and branches held by concentric rings of piles and radial beams. Archaeologists found a roundhouse on the platform with walls of wood and stone and a central hearth over three metres wide. Excavations in 1880–81 and 1989–90 were led by Duncan McNaught and Robert Munro among others. Radiocarbon dating shows the crannog was built during Roman occupation, but most timbers date from the early seventh century. Among the finds are bone combs, iron tools, glass beads, two gold spiral finger-rings and a seventh-century gold coin copy. A seven-metre-long dugout canoe with a stern board was recovered beside the structure. Organic remains like wood and leather add to the picture of daily life on the site. Visitors see the remains of the circular platform and the lines of piles still visible in the peat. The hearth’s stone ring marks the centre of the roundhouse. Artefacts from the dig are displayed nearby, showing the mix of tools, jewellery and pottery used by its Iron Age and early medieval inhabitants. The surrounding fields stretch out to Mid Buiston Farm, giving a sense of the crannog’s original setting on the water’s edge.