Aerial view of The Cairns, South Ronaldsay. (Bobby Friel)
Aerial view of The Cairns, South Ronaldsay. (Bobby Friel)

Structures K, Q and R

The Cairns Excavation - Structures K, Q and R

To the north of the broch, around the time of its abandonment, a new building, Structure K, was laid out.

The remains of Structure K.
The remains of Structure K.

It was large, about 14 metres from north to south, and made use of other, now defunct, structures around it, such as Structure S.

To the east of Structure K, other buildings (Q and R) seem to have been founded at this time and shared walls with K. The outlines of Structures K, Q and R are now well-understood but only their upper and late occupation has been investigated so far.

The after-life of Structure K is especially important and is contemporary with the next stage of post-broch settlement on the site, the Structure B complex of buildings in the later 3rd, 4th and 5th Centuries AD and beyond.