If I've remembered correctly, according to the experimental build at Strathyre, it would take 20 men a year PLUS excavating the stone. I think that's too many for one community to cope with - and at its peak there were half a dozen in progress round the country. Hence my idea of young squaddies doing the labouring as part of their 'national service' :) But seriously, though, it would make sense for communities to help each other - especially since some of those 20 would have to be quite skilled at stone-walling.
It has been calculated that, for a cereal-dominated diet, each adult would require 210kg of barley per year. One hectare produces around 1000kg. So 100 hectares (1sq.km.) could theoretically feed almost 500 people!
So how many people do you think lived here?
ReplyDeleteAround eight families or fifty people would be my guess, though Fojut suggests that it could have been as many as a hundred.
ReplyDeleteAssuming the people were there before the broch was built, perhaps we should be asking how many people were required to build the broch.
ReplyDeleteIf I've remembered correctly, according to the experimental build at Strathyre, it would take 20 men a year PLUS excavating the stone. I think that's too many for one community to cope with - and at its peak there were half a dozen in progress round the country. Hence my idea of young squaddies doing the labouring as part of their 'national service' :) But seriously, though, it would make sense for communities to help each other - especially since some of those 20 would have to be quite skilled at stone-walling.
DeleteSo I would suggest that it was only communities with a population of more than 100 that had enough able-bodied men to build a broch.
DeleteIt has been calculated that, for a cereal-dominated diet, each adult would require 210kg of barley per year. One hectare produces around 1000kg. So 100 hectares (1sq.km.) could theoretically feed almost 500 people!
ReplyDelete