Carlungie Earth House

Measuring about 40m long with side passages, Carlungie is one of the largest and most complex souterrains (a word meaning underground structure) found in Scotland.

Like many other souterrains in Fife, Perthshire and Angus, it lies on rich agricultural land. Excavations in 1950 and 1951 revealed an associated above-ground settlement of eight stone-built dwellings.

Excavations also produced some interesting finds, including:

• Roman amphora pottery

• native pottery

• metal objects

• stone lamps

• a fire-making stone

• a stone mould for metalworking

There’s evidence that part of the settlement was used for working stone or metal.

Souterrains like Carlungie were not dwellings, but stone-lined underground passages. As at Carlungie, other excavated souterrain sites have revealed the remains of associated buildings at ground level. Several examples are in Historic Scotland care, such as the nearby site of Ardestie.

Plenty of people have speculated on the use of structures like Carlungie. Some date back to the late Bronze Age nearly 3000, but they were still being built in the early centuries AD. They vary in shape and size across Scotland too, which could suggest there was no single consistent use.

One theory is they were used for storage. The larger sizes of souterrains in Perthshire and Angus could reflect the fertility of the surrounding farmland. They may have been used to store valuable items, indicating social status. Or, perhaps they provided storage for agricultural surplus for the local communities.

Some have suggested that souterrains in Angus dating to the first centuries AD might have been built to store grain for the occupying Romans. Evidence implies that most earth houses were destroyed, or at least infilled, in the late AD 100s – coinciding with the Roman withdrawal from Britain. A number of excavated sites, including Carlungie, have produced Roman artefacts like pottery.