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Field Visit
Date June 1981
Event ID 1102515
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1102515
The heavily wooded summit of a ridge about 130m N of Duntroon Lodge is occupied by the remains of a vitrified fort and its outworks. On the NW the fort is protected by a steep cliff rising some 15m from the adjacent ground, and on the NE a narrow gully impedes access along the spine of the ridge. On the SW and SE, however, approach is up the broken slopes of the ridge, and it is on these flanks that additional protection has been afforded by a series of outworks. Excavations were undertaken in 1904 as part of an exploratory programme by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland designed to examine the forts of the Crinan district, and the following description makes use of the published report (Campbell and Sandeman 1964; Christison 1903).
The main fort wall (A on RCAHMS plan), which encloses an area about 45m by 27m, survives for the most part as a band of stony rubble up to 2.5m thick; two short stretches of the outer face are visible on the W, standing to a height of 1.3m in three courses at a point where the surrounding rubble has been cleared away. Most of the circuit of the outer face was, however, traced in the course of the excavation, although the inner face could not be found. The wall was originally constructed with strengthening beams of timber, which in the course of conflagration have burned with such intensity that the wall-core has been heavily vitrified; long stretches of the inner half of the vitrified wall-core may be seen on the N and W, and, although little sign of vitrification may now be recognised elsewhere, it is clear from the report that the phenomenon was formerly evident on all sides. No traces of vitrification were found on the outer face of the wall.
The excavators also noted that the surface of the bedrock had been discoloured by intense heat for a distance of about 4m inside the wall, but only 1m on the outside. It is uncertain whether the 'large quantity of charred wood', which was discovered 'inside the walls', represented the remains of internal timber-lacing or, for example, of wooden buildings abutting the inner face of the wall. Although the interior was stripped to bedrock, no structures were recognised. The position of the entrance is not clear; it may be indicated by the broad gap in the wall-debris on the NW, at a point where a zig-zag path offers a precarious approach.
An outer wall (B), incorporating several isolated masses of vitrification, which are apparently derived from the ruins of wall A, has been drawn round the edge of a lower terrace, except on the NW, where the cliff made such additional protection unnecessary. The wall is now severely robbed and is for the most part a band of rubble about 2m thick with a single stretch of outer facing-stones on the SW. The excavators reported that the masses of vitrified material found in the core of the wall were in positions 'where they could not have fallen from the main work', but whether they were incorporated during its original construction, which would imply that it was a secondary work, or merely in some subsequent repair cannot be determined.
On the spine of rocky outcrop lying beyond the gully at the NE end of the fort there is a band of rubble (C), which may possibly be the remains of another outwork. (There are now no traces of the short length of walling on the S side of the gully which was noted in 1904.) On the SW side of the fort stretches of two outer walls may be traced (D and E), but stone-robbing has obscured their course and made it impossible to establish their original extent.
Among the finds recorded during the excavation were thirty-six saddle querns, three flint scrapers, various flakes and cores, a piece of jet or lignite, five hammer stones, four whetstones or polishers, six pebbles with indications of wear, and a possible stone sinker; the surviving finds are in the Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. (The Museum collections include stone pounders, polishers, whetstones, flint artefacts, and a grain rubber)
Visited June 1981
RCAHMS 1988
