Archaeology Notes

Event ID 699823

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/699823

NS26SW 2 2028 6286.

(NS 2028 6286) Fort (NR)

OS 6" map (1963)

Fort: The summit of The Knock (712ft OD) is surrounded by a stony, turf-covered rampart, nowhere more than 3ft high, which encloses a sub-oval area about 165ft N-S by 95ft transversely. Enough vitrified material has come from the ruin to indicate that it had been a timber-laced wall (three pieces of vitrified stone were donated to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS) by Childe - (Accession No: HH 479). On the flanks of the hill, from

6ft to 8ft below the crest of the rampart, a shallow, rock-cut ditch can be seen in the S, NW and N, bordered in places by a low rampart or upcast mound on the outer lip. The ditch fades to a terrace towards the W, and on the NE it has been destroyed by a modern access-road The original entrance may have been on the SE.

V G Childe and A Graham 1943; R W Feachem 1963

This fort is as described. The single rampart of earth and stone can be traced all round. Though Smith suggests that there were probably three ramparts, there is no suggestion of works other than those described.

Visited by OS (JLD) 21 September 1956

Previous field report confirmed. Some stone exposed on the outer face of the rampart at the S end of the fort may be vitrified.

Surveyed at 1.2500.

Visited by OS (WDJ) 28 October 1964

Vitrified sandstone was seen in mole upcasts all round the NW side; over 50 pieces were collected. A sherd of Early Iron Age pottery was also found. An approach road zig-zags up the N face of the hill towards the main fort entrance, 5ft wide, centrally placed in the N side, where the sharply inswinging end of the W rampart is covered by the squared end of the E rampart. A lower triangular terrace on the NW contained at least one hut. It may have been covered by a single palisade.

F Newall 1969

No change. Where the turf cover was broken, inspection showed no trace of vitrified material, although naturally decayed sandstone is evident. A single pebble-sized example of vitrifaction was found loose on the trackway below the W side rampart.

No trace of a hut platform or circle was found where indicated by Newall.

Visited by OS (JRL) 8 February 1983.