Note

Date 29 May 2015 - 15 November 2016

Event ID 1044582

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Note

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1044582

Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

This complex series of fortifications is situated on the Brown Caterthun, the NE of two rounded hills crowned by forts to either side of the saddle carrying the minor public road across the hills to Bridge of Lethnot. These form a series of enclosures of differing sizes, and though they have been sampled by excavation, which revealed further complexity, the precise sequence of their construction is not fully understood. The innermost enclosure, which is probably also the most recent, is oval on plan and measures about 88m from NNW to SSE by 55m transversely (0.28ha) within a low bank; excavation on the S of one of the five entrances through this bank uncovered twin palisade trenches partly beneath its line; the observed relationships at different points between the palisade trenches and the bank were contradictory, but the presence of the packing stones rising in some places into the body of the bank implies that they are either contemporary or the palisades were cut through the bank; A radiocarbon date from the buried ground surface provides a terminus post quem of 360-40 cal BC. The only features within its interior are a little W of centre a rock-cut pit apparently dating from 800-400BC, and occupying the S end an undated enclosure defined by a shallow ditch 1m broad by 0.3m deep. The next line of defences lies eccentrically between 50m and 20m down the slope, comprising a substantial bank about 7m thick by 1.5m high, from which occasional runs of outer face protrude, with two low outer terraces lying concentrically outside it; Internally this enclosure measures about 190m from N to S by 140m transversely (2ha). Excavation revealed a stone foundation over 4m thick in the core of this bank, probably originally with a turf capping, while a palisade trench ran to the rear of the inner of the two outer terraces. One of nine entrances that pierce these defences was excavated on the E, not only revealing two phases of construction, but also a timber-lined entrance passage approaching from the exterior. The registration of the gaps through the rampart and those through the outer terraces is relatively close, probably indicating that these defences are closely related, but the axis of the northernmost is curiously dislocated to create an oblique approach that exposes the visitor's left side, while a tenth possible gap in the outer terraces on the SW is blocked by the inner line, raising a possibility that the outer may be of earlier date. The chronology of any of these lines lacks any precision, but they probably date from before 400BC. The outermost circuits comprise two ramparts, each accompanied by extensive traces of shallow quarry scoops to their rear, and the outer with an external ditch and a counterscarp bank. These two circuits are pierced by no fewer than nine entrances, of which those on the NE, ESE, SSE, S and NW share axes with entrances through the middle lines; worn hollows can be seen traversing the space between the ramparts and in the case of the four around the SE quadrant the tracks are flanked by low walls or banks. Excavation, however, has shown that while the inner of these two ramparts, which was of composite earth, turf and stone construction and laced with timbers, dates from before 400 BC, charcoal from the old ground surface below the outer returned a date of 410-160 cal BC. This latter was little more than a dump of quarried material, probably with a turf outer face, and in one place an earlier palisade trench was found beneath the counterscarp bank. The configuration of these outer defences presents a curious misalignment to create the appearance of an enclosure between the two lines on the E, though to some extent this is now confounded by the radiocarbon chronology. Nevertheless, the outer cannot have operated in isolation, and the banks flanking entrances and running back to gaps in the inner imply that at the time of its construction the two were conceived in unison. This is an indication that there are further complications to be unravelled in the structure of the inner, particularly as one of the five radiocarbon dates from the timberwork in its core is directly contemporary with the one from beneath the outer. With the exception of what may be an unfinished line of defence, which can be seen contouring around the SE spur, these represent the most extensive enclosure on the hill, taking in an area of some 5.5ha; the projection of the unfinished line, however, takes in 8.88ha.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 15 November 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3085