Lamps, spindle whorls, whetstone and disc

These steatite lamps and spindle whorls, and stone whetstone and perforated disc are some of the finds from excavations at Dun Telve broch at Glenelg in Inverness-shire. The broch was used between 200 BC and 400 AD.

The lamps with small handles were hollowed from local steatite. They would have been filled with oil on which wicks floated. The spindle whorls were decorated with dots and incised lines. They were used with a spindle to spin wool into yarn.

Brochs were generally made of two concentric dry stone walls which had stairs within them leading to galleries at upper levels. The central area was either roofed or left open. Finds such as these show that they were used as houses, not simply refuges.

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