Description

The monument consists of the well-preserved remains of a galleried dun of middle Iron Age date (c.200 BC to c.200 AD) situated on the top of a small rocky hill. The dun is a circular drystone fortification, 14.5m in overall diameter with walls on average 5m thick. The walls contain a narrow gallery running around most of the circuit, except on the E side, where the entrance to the dun is located.

A low platform 3m across on the N side is the only ancillary structure visible outside the dun.The dun was excavated, although not totally cleared, in 1953-5, and has been filled with rubble to help preserve it. The excavation revealed a second period of occupation in the late Iron Age (c. 400 AD to c. 600 AD).

The area to be scheduled is circular, 30m in diameter, to include the dun, the outer platform and a small area around in which traces of contemporary activity may survive below the surface. The area to be scheduled is marked in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a fine field example of an Iron Age galleried dun, in dimensions and characteristics transitional between brochs and duns, and therefore of importance for understanding the full architectural variety of such structures. Although largely excavated, it is likely that important deposits survive around the dun and below its walls, containing evidence, accessible to excavation, regarding contemporary domestic economy and land-use. It also has importance as one of a local group of Iron Age settlements of varied type, offering an opportunity to examine a range of possibly contemporary sites with differing architecture and social status.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NF 60 SE 1.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland