Publication Account
Date 2009
Event ID 1019600
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1019600
Dun Scalpsie is one of four duns on Bute and it forms part of the Scalpsie Bay archaeological landscape group. Dun Scalpsie sits on a prominent geological feature, occupying a commanding position over Scalpsie Bay and is comparable with the other dun sites recorded across Argyll in the RCAHMS Inventories. The surrounding landscape features include Thom’s Cut and its associated footbridges, World War II glider traps on Scalpsie beach, pre-Improvement and Improvement period farmsteads, an early medieval chapel site and two burial cairns.
This following excerpt from the RCAHMS database is a good example of a record in a revision project, where adding an additional text description may not be the most economic approach. For example, the OS and earlier descriptions were accurate on the date of visit, and contain details of the features of the dun. A more appropriate revision for this record could be to add further supporting text or images, not previously attached to the site. For example, the record revision project will add the text from the Ordnance Survey Name Book, which gives additional information about the antiquarian interpretation of such a site:
'A British fort situated on a tolerably commanding position on the farm of Scalpsie. The inner slope or wall is constructed of a mass of loose stones or boulders partly grown over with grass. The outer slope is chiefly natural partly assisted by art. Mr Gilp the farmer says it is handed down by tradition that a battle had been fought here between the Scotch and the Danes'.
Another aspect of record revision would be to improve the illustrative material related to the site. The aerial photographs are black and white and there are no ground photographs. This site could be targeted during an aerial sortie to enhance the record with colour aerial photographs. A copy of the Emergency Survey site description has been scanned and will be added as an image to the record.
The record could also be enhanced by survey. The OS plan at 1:10,000 scale is relatively generalised and a site survey at a larger scale, would illustrate the detail of structural and topographic features.
Information from ‘The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Commissioners’ Field Meeting 2009'.
