Note
Date 23 March 2015 - 19 May 2016
Event ID 1044312
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1044312
This fortification crowns a steep-sided knoll at the foot of the NE flank of the Hill of Nigg. The visible remains comprise two elements: a thick-walled round-house enclosed within up to two outer walls occupying the very top of the knoll; and a larger outer enclosure taking in the whole of the summit area and protected by a massive ditch and rampart encircling its foot. In 2013 Candy Hatherley excavated evaluation trenches across the Inner round-house, which measures about 10.5m in diameter within a wall 3m in thickness, and its outer walls. Radiocarbon dates from a range of contexts suggest that these elements of the occupation date 400-200 BC; the outer works, however, remain undated. These latter probably accompany a rampart following the shoulder of the knoll to form an oval enclosure measuring up to 80m from E to W by 48m transversely (0.32ha), though the rampart itself is reduced to little more than a stony scarp and on the E appears to become the outermost wall enclosing this side of the thick-walled round-house. The flanks of the knoll may have been scarped in places, falling away steeply into the bottom of a broad external ditch with an external earthen rampart, which is best preserved in the NE, SE and NW sectors. There is also an outer bank on the SE. The entrance is on the E and approaches the summit up a sloping ramp from the NE.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 19 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC2912
