Description Sweathouses were small structures built
of stone without mortar. People who were suffering
from illnesses, from rheumatism to skin complaints,
used them. They were the sauna of their day and
frequently were occupied by sufferers who had taken
a little too much alcohol and would use the heat of
the sweathouse to cleanse their systems of the
toxins. The heat was attained by placing a fire in
the central chamber or by using stones that were
heated in a fire and placed inside. The sufferer or
patient would crawl inside and perspire for over an
hour. Sometimes a cold stream nearby was used to
cool off in. On occasions when the person had
removed most if not all of their clothing and left
them outside only to return to find their clothes
had been taken. The one here is a probable
sweathouse which has not been excavated.
This
project has been supported by the EU as part of the Culture
2000 programme.