During preparatory work for the Cross Tay Link Road, archaeologists excavated Broxy Kennels Fort near Perth and uncovered a stone‑lined souterrain measuring about 30 × 13 × 3 ft (≈9.1 × 4.0 × 0.9 m). Radiocarbon dating places the site between c.550–400 B.C.E. through the late 1st century C.E. Finds include small amounts of cereal grain, fragments of wattle and daub from roundhouses, bog ore, smelting slag and vitrified clay from a furnace, but the chamber's original purpose remains uncertain.
Roadworks Reveal Mysterious Stone Chamber in Pre‑Roman Scottish Hillfort Near Perth
During preparatory work for the Cross Tay Link Road, archaeologists excavated Broxy Kennels Fort near Perth and uncovered a stone‑lined souterrain measuring about 30 × 13 × 3 ft (≈9.1 × 4.0 × 0.9 m). Radiocarbon dating places the site between c.550–400 B.C.E. through the late 1st century C.E. Finds include small amounts of cereal grain, fragments of wattle and daub from roundhouses, bog ore, smelting slag and vitrified clay from a furnace, but the chamber's original purpose remains uncertain.
19:09, 05.11.2025Culture
Roadworks uncover long‑hidden Iron Age chamber at Broxy Kennels Fort
Preparatory survey work for the Cross Tay Link Road in central Scotland has revealed the remains of a pre‑Roman hillfort and a partially subterranean stone chamber that archaeologists say remains enigmatic.
Discovery and investigation
Teams from Guard Archaeology, National Museums Scotland and the universities of Glasgow and Stirling began excavations at Broxy Kennels Fort after researchers noticed cropmarks on aerial photographs taken in the 1960s. Those images were crucial: centuries of ploughing had erased visible traces of the fort from the surface.
The souterrain
The most striking feature is a stone‑lined underground passage, or souterrain, measuring roughly 30 feet long by 13 feet wide by about 3 feet deep (approximately 9.1 × 4.0 × 0.9 m). The chamber has a stone floor and its walls are supported by large boulders apparently sourced from the nearby River Tay.
Dating, use and context
Radiocarbon dating and stratigraphic evidence place the earliest activity on the site between about 550 and 400 B.C.E., and show the settlement remained occupied until the late first century C.E., shortly before Roman forces reached this part of Scotland. The souterrain appears to have been added after an earlier ditch was partly back‑filled; subsequent defenses—including an additional ditch and ramparts—were constructed around it.
Finds and interpretations
Archaeologists recovered small quantities of cereal grain on the chamber floor, but not enough to confirm the souterrain functioned as a granary. Chemical analysis of floor deposits was inconclusive. Other finds across the site include charred wattle and daub from roundhouses, bog ore and smelting slag, and a fragment of vitrified clay consistent with a furnace used in metalworking.
Kenny Green, Guard Archaeology project officer: “Without the aerial photographs from the 1960s, no one would have known there was a hillfort here—centuries of ploughing had removed any surface trace.”
Jillian Ferguson, roads and infrastructure manager at Perth & Kinross Council: “Many drivers on the new Cross Tay Link Road may not realise they are passing a site where people lived more than 2,000 years ago. The road project provided an unexpected but invaluable chance to learn more about that past.”
Significance
The Broxy Kennels souterrain is one of roughly 200 known in Scotland, and the fort itself fits a broader pattern of some 1,500 Iron Age hillforts across the country. While such forts were often fortified settlements rather than purely military outposts, the precise function of souterrains remains debated—possibilities include storage, ritual activity, refuge, or elements tied to craft and domestic life. At Broxy Kennels, the evidence so far does not offer a definitive answer.
The Cross Tay Link Road investigation demonstrates how infrastructure projects can create opportunities for archaeology, providing fresh insight into everyday life and industry on the Scottish landscape more than two millennia ago.