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Publication Account
Date 1985
Event ID 1018856
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1018856
This D-shaped dun is exceptionally well preserved with the outer and inner face surviving to a height of over 2m externally. The shape of the dun, which measures about 19m by 13m internally, is partly dictated by the rock stack on which it was built; its preservation is due, at least in part, to the use of an inner revetment within the wall (an inward facing slab construction) still visible in several places. The main features of interest are the entrance, a double staircase within the wall and a cell within the wall on the northeast side. The impressive entrance has door checks, against which a stout timber door might be placed, and bar-slots to accommodate the beam to keep the door in position. The wall to the south-east of the entrance is in two distinct thicknesses, doubtless a device to improve the stability of the dun. On the west side of the wall the twin flights of steps provide access to the wall head. On the north-east side there is a small cell within the thickness of the wall.
Excavations between 1936 and 1938 and again in 1984 have revealed a rich assemblage of fmds including pottery and metalwork indicating three periods of occupation: the construction of the dun in the 1st or 2nd century AD; its re-use, coupled probably with rebuilding, in about the 9th century AD; there was finally a re-occupation between the late 12th and early 14th century AD.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Argyll and the Western Isles’, (1985).
