Description

The monument comprises a dun, a form of fortified settlement or enclosed site, dating from the Iron Age (around 500 BC to AD 500). It survives as oval enclosure defined by the remains of a stone wall. The monument lies on a low rocky knoll between the Allt Torr a' Bhacain and the Allt Dun Auladh burns, at around 55m OD. 

The dun measures around 15m from north-northwest to south-southeast by 7m within a wall about 2.5m thick. The wall is visible as a substantial spread of rubble, representing the core material of the wall. A number of large facing stones, forming the lowest course of each face, survive on the southwest. The entrance was probably situated on the west-southwest, where for a short distance the spread of rubble is thinner than elsewhere, and where the approach onto the knoll is less steep.

The scheduled area is circular, with a diameter of 25m. It includes the remains described above and an area around within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. All above ground elements of fences and gates are specifically excluded from the schedule.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a well-preserved example of a dun with surviving upstanding features. The dun is in a characteristic location of other inland small hilltop or rock outcrop-style forts which are found across Scotland. It is therefore an important representative of this monument type and therefore it makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the past as a defensive site dating from later prehistory, most likely the Iron Age. It adds to our understanding of later prehistoric society in Scotland and the function, use and development of enclosed defended sites. The monument retains structural and other physical features and there is significant potential for the survival of buried archaeological deposits within and around the site which contribute to its research potential. 

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS (1980) The Royal Commission on 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, 104, No. 193.

Canmore

https://canmore.org.uk/site/22105/

Source: Historic Environment Scotland