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Note
Date 20 December 2013 - 5 April 2017
Event ID 1045454
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1045454
Occupying the craggiest knoll in the Boreland Hills, this small fort has been excavated twice, first in 1960 (Thomas 1961) and more recently in 2012 (http://gallowaypicts.com/wordpress/). It is roughly oval on plan and its innermost enclosure crowns the very summit of the knoll, enclosing an area measuring no more than 25m from N to S by 15m transversely (0.03ha). This innermost wall has been heavily robbed, but it was timber-laced and at least 5m in thickness, around the E forming a massive scree of rubble spilling down the flanks of the knoll; pieces of vitrified stone can be found amongst the rubble. The entrance is on the S, and gives the appearance of a ramp dropping obliquely down the slope past the well-known early medieval carvings cut into the living rock on the W, and the structure enclosing a rock-cut basin on the E. Short lengths of several outer ramparts can also be seen on the spine of the knoll on the N and SSE, essentially enhancing minor topographical features. On the SSE these comprise: a stony bank that now forms the leading edge of a platform cut into the slope above the carvings on the W side of the entrance; below which another stony scarp extends along the edge of a natural terrace; at the foot of which a ditch has been cut into the living rock and is flanked externally by a bank of upcast. On the N, about 9m beyond the inner wall, a stony scarp extends along the top of a steep slope dropping down to a terrace behind a thick stony rampart, which Thomas demonstrated was faced externally (1960) and is fronted by a rock-cut ditch some 5m in breadth. There is no visible evidence that any of the outworks at either end were linked to form continuous barriers. While one of the radiocarbon dates from the most recent excavations falls in the middle of the first millennium BC, The timber-laced wall is securely dated to the early medieval period, correlating with an extensive assemblage of imported goods and metalworking debris from the interior.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 05 April 2017. Atlas of Hillforts SC0241
