Culsh Earth House

Like other souterrains in Scotland, Culsh dates to the Iron Age, about 2,000 years ago.

Culsh is a typical example of the kind of souterrain found in Aberdeenshire. It's crescent shaped, but smaller and less developed than the huge souterrains of Angus and Perthshire.

Nevertheless, considerable skill and labour would have gone into the creation of Culsh.

It’s essentially a long, curving trench cut into the side of a hill, lined with drystone walls. Originally small pinning stones were used to hold the walls in place, but these are now mortared.

Plenty of people have speculated on the use of souterrains. The variation in shape and size across Scotland suggest there was no single consistent use.

Culsh Earth House probably held some ritual significance for the community who built it. Two cup-marked stones in the walls have probably been re-used from an earlier sacred site. If the monument was a store for surplus produce, it may have played a role in ceremonies celebrating the planting of crops or the harvest.

Evidence suggests that most souterrains were destroyed, or at least in-filled, in the late 100s AD. This coincides with the Roman withdrawal from Britain.

Culsh was re-discovered and cleared of earth in 1853. Early excavations there found two cup-marked stones built into the walls, a broken urn, ox bones, a collection of smooth pebbles and a large bead.