crannog

/kran"euhg/, n.

1. (in ancient Ireland and Scotland) a lake dwelling, usually built on an artificial island.

2. a small, artificial, fortified island constructed in bogs in ancient Scotland and Ireland.

Also, crannoge /kran"euhj/.

[1850-55; < Ir crannóg wooden frame or vessel, pole, crannog, equiv. to crann beam, tree + -óg n. suffix]

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In Scotland and Ireland, an artificially constructed site for a house or settlement, usually on an islet or in the shallows of a lake.

Made of timber or sometimes stone, crannogs date from the Late Bronze Age into the Middle Ages. Usually fortified by stockades, they were among the latest prehistoric strongholds. See also Lake Dwellings.

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▪ dwelling

      in Scotland and Ireland, artificially constructed sites for houses or settlements; they were made of timber, sometimes of stone, and were usually constructed on islets or in the shallows of a lake. They were usually fortified by single or double stockaded defenses. Crannogs ranged in time from the Late Bronze Age into the European Middle Ages; their distinctive substructures of brushwood and logs built up from the bottom set them apart from the pile constructions of earlier periods in Switzerland. Crannogs are among the latest prehistoric strongholds and seem to have reached their greatest development in early historic times. Important sites include present Glastonbury and Holderness.

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