Fogou

A fogou or fougou (pronounced "foo-goo") is an underground, dry-stone structure found on Iron Age or Romano-British defended settlement sites in Cornwall. Fogous have similarities with souterrains or earth-houses of northern Europe and particularly Scotland including the Orkney Islands. Fewer than 15 confirmed fogous have been found.

Fogous consist of a buried, usually corbelled stone wall, tapering at the top and capped by stone slabs. They were mainly constructed by excavating a sloping trench about 5 ft (1.5 m) wide and 6 ft (1.8 m) deep, lining it with drystone walling as stated, which was battered inwards and roofed with flat slabs; soil from excavation was heaped on top as at Pendeen Vau or incorporated in the rampart of the enclosure as at Halliggye Fogou, Trelowarren.

The purpose of a fogou is no longer known. Their central location in settlements and the work that evidently went into constructing them is indicative of their importance to the community. It has been conjectured that they were used for religious purposes, as refuges, or for food storage. Many are oriented south-west-north-east, facing the prevailing wind. Their use as refuge during raiding trips was first suggested by Darvill in his book 'Prehistoric Britain' (London: Batsford. 1987, page 177). An argument was put forward by Kenneth L MacGregor; was that they mainly served as refuges since food storage is impractical due to the damp conditions and ritual use is unlikely because the Celtic Druid tradition focused more on the living world.

However, being open at both ends, a fogou could provide ideal conditions for food storage, especially the drying of meat or storage of dairy products such as milk, butter and cheese where natural moulds would assist in preservation of perishable foodstuffs. Ashpits found at Trewardreva and in the circular side-chamber at Carn Euny were probably for preserving gulls' eggs, as was done on Saint Kilda in Scotland. A layer of black greasy mould with charcoal, animals and bird bones at Treveneague is also very suggestive of food storage. Diodorus Siculus stated that Iron Age people in Britain stored their grain in "underground repositories", adding contemporary evidence to the speculation that they were mainly used for food storage. Excavated examples at Halliggye, Carn Euny and Boden suggest fogous may have been deliberately filled after use or upon abandonment of the associated settlements.

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