Note
Date 4 May 2015 - 9 August 2016
Event ID 1044506
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1044506
The site of a fort in the woodland on Dun Knock was first discovered in 1978, when cropmarks revealed the lines of no fewer than four ditches in the field to the NW. Subsequent fieldwork has revealed traces of the ploughed down defences in the woodland on the S, demonstrating that it is oval on plan, measuring about 105m from ENE to WSW by 45m transversely if the defences follow the contour round the summit (0.37ha). The ditches form a belt some 35m deep on the N, but may have broadened still further around the W flank of the hill, where a fifth ditch appears between the outermost and the third; on the S the ramparts and ditches are reduced to a belt of four low scarps on the slope, at the foot of which there are traces of cultivation rigs forming a series of low terraces. All four ditches on the NE are pierced by an entrance where the terminals are visible on the N side of the gap; the outer three all appear to turn slightly inwards, whereas the innermost, turns slightly outwards in the direction of the terminal of the second ditch. Evaluation trenches were excavated in 2008 and 2009 (Poller 2008; Dalglish et al 2009), revealing evidence that timber, stone and turf had been used in the construction of at least one of the outer ramparts and several pieces of vitrifaction were noted. A possible sunken-floored structure was identified within the interior, producing fragments of both pottery and daub, a few stone tools and a rotary quern, and fragments of a saddle quern were re-used in the packing of a post-hole cut through it. A large quarry has been dug through the defences on the SW, while a narrower pit has been driven into the interior from the ESE.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 09 August 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3011
