Dumbuck crannog is situated on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde, close to Dumbarton Rock. The surviving remains are partly covered by sands and silts, which provide a preservative environment for its oak piles, layers of brushwood and other delicate organic artefacts. 

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The above image is that of a reconstructed crannog, thereby suggesting what Dumbuck Crannog might have looked like.

 

Recent archaeological research has revealed that there are at least three other similar sites in the Firth of Clyde and another group in the Beauly Firth, near Inverness (Hale 2004). With this greater corpus of marine crannogs has come a broader understanding of their age, form and function. Part of Dumbuck has recently been dated using radiocarbon methods and the results place the construction phase of the timber platform to between the 2nd century BC and the 2nd century AD. This corresponds closely with dates from one of the other crannogs in the Clyde, situated upstream near Erskine Bridge (Sands and Hale 2001, 48), and with those from a logboat found in the same area (Mowat 1996, 129). This cluster of dates suggests a lively and well-used river and shoreline.