Description

The monument comprises a later prehistoric fort. It lies on the rocky summit of an isolated hill within a broad river valley.

The fort consists of a sub-oval stone wall of large blocks measuring 2-3 m wide and standing between 0.3 and 1 m high. This encloses an area measuring 66 m from NE-SW by 36 m transversely, with an entrance on the SSW side. The wall accentuates the natural lines of defence; a gap exists in the NE where there is a precipitous rock face. A secondary wall of facing stones surrounds the western half of the entrance.

The area to be scheduled is an irregular polygon on plan, to include the fort and an area around in which evidence for its construction and use may survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

Cultural Significance

The monument's archaeological significance can be expressed as follows:

Intrinsic characteristics: Subsequent landuse as pasture means that there is a high potential for the survival of archaeological deposits associated with this monument. There is a likelihood that evidence will remain of the structures built here and the activities undertaken. This can provide information on the form, date and longevity of occupation at this fort, as well as the life-style, economy, status and culture of its occupants.

Contextual characteristics: The prominence of this crag within a wide, open landscape means that this monument would have formed a significant and imposing part of the landscape in later prehistory, and would have attracted settlement through the need for defence and/or display. Settlement may have been intermittent and temporary or of a more permanent nature, and some forts were re-occupied in the early historic period. If such later occupation did take place, the location of a possible chapel site in the vicinity may suggest an interesting relationship between local ecclesiastical and secular powers.

Associative characteristics: The placename roughly translates as 'rock of the boar'. This may suggest a conceptual association between the inhabitants of some high status, later prehistoric sites and certain types of animals.

National Importance

The monument is of national importance because it is a well-preserved example of a poorly understood monument type. It could have formed a significant part of the landscape from the late Bronze Age or early Iron Age through to the end of the early Middle Ages, and been a central place for local communities and emerging chiefdoms in the need for defence, communal events and the demonstration and display of status. The loss of this monument would detract from a future ability to interpret the surrounding landscape and the nature of the societies that occupied it in later prehistory and early history. It loss would also impact on our ability to understand the date and nature of occupation of forts throughout Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the monument as NH62NE7.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland