Description

The monument comprises a small Iron Age fort situated across a small ridge, lying in uncultivated pasture 350m WNW of Easter Lochend farm.

The fort straddles a thin ridge running E to W, measuring approximately 29m in diameter from N to S by 39m transversely, enclosing an internal area of about 1130 square metres. The monument is defined by a bank, 0.5m high, with an outer ditch 0.5m deep and 3m wide crossing the ridge to the E and W, thus isolating a level interior. To the N, soil creep has removed the outer edge of the ditch, thus creating a small terrace. To the S, dense whin obscures the line of the ditch and bank. No entrance is evident, and there is no visible stonework.

The area to be scheduled is circular on plan, to include the remains described and an area around in which evidence relating to the fort's 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: As a small Iron Age fort in good condition, the monument retains well-defined sections of its perimeter bank and ditch. The turf covering of the perimeter bank is likely to aid the preservation of structural features within it. A lack of intensive landuse across the site, due to its topography and location on marginal land, means that the potential for preservation of features relating to the construction and use of the fort is high. Potential exists for preservation of buried soil beneath the ramparts, which would aid our understanding of the environmental conditions at the time people built the monument.

Contextual characteristics: Iron Age people often sited their forts on rocky knolls and ridges, potentially for a variety of reasons: defence, availability of building material, visibility within the landscape; avoiding the use of land that could otherwise be cultivated. This monument has a strategic overview and thus control of the landscape stretching down to the River Nairn. Spatial analysis of the site's relationship with nearby Iron Age defensive and settlement sites in the wider landscape may enhance our understanding of the role of such structures, particularly about society and economy. Comparison of the fort with others will enable a better understanding of the construction and form of Iron Age defended hill forts.

National Importance

The monument is of national importance because it is a good example of a well-preserved Iron Age fort with bank and outer ditch remaining, situated in a strategic location commanding a large area of cultivable land. The monument has the potential to provide well-preserved archaeological deposits within not just the interior of the fort but also within the surrounding ditch. Potential exists to further our understanding of the value of a relict landscape during the Bronze Age and Iron Age. Its loss would impede our future ability to appreciate and understand the Iron Age landscape and its inhabitants.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the site as NH85SW 9.

References:

RCAHMS, 1978, THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES AND MONUMENTS OF NAIRN DISTRICT, HIGHLAND REGION, The Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Scotland Series, 5, 11, No. 46, Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland