Description

The monument comprises a dun of prehistoric date, visible as upstanding remains. Duns are fortified settlement sites of Iron Age date (about 500 BC to AD 500).

The monument occupies the summit of a rocky boss situated some 250m from the shoreline at the E end of Loch Buie, and at about 30m OD. The dun is roughly sub-rectangular on plan, measuring c.17m NE-SW by 14m transversely within the ruins of a stone wall. This wall has been reduced for much of its circuit to a low spread of stony debris, measuring c. 2.1m in average thickness.

Two short stretches of outer facing stones have survived on the W and NE sides, but at the E corner the wall has been almost totally destroyed, possibly to construct the recent rectangular enclosure that occupies the adjacent part of the interior. Two more enclosures, presumably of similar date, impinge upon the outer line of the wall on the SE and SW. The position of the entrance to the dun is not apparent. An old drystone field wall surrounds the base of the rocky boss.

The area proposed for scheduling comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related material may be expected to survive. It is roughly circular in shape, truncated on the E side, with maximum dimensions of 64m NE-SW by 46m NW-SE, as marked in red on the accompanying map. The above-ground components of the field wall around the base of the boss and the boundary on the eastern limit of the scheduled area are specifically excluded from the scheduling.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to contribute to an understanding of later prehistoric defended settlement and economy. Its importance is increased by its proximity to other monuments of potentially contemporary date.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NM 62 SW 6.

Bibliography:

RCAHMS (1980) The Royal Commission of the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. 'Argyll: an inventory of the monuments volume 3: Mull, Tiree, Coll and Northern Argyll (excluding the early medieval and later monuments of Iona)'. Edinburgh, 102-3, No. 189.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland