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Archaeology Notes
Event ID 678164
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Archaeology Notes
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/678164
NN74NE 6 7666 4966.
(NN 7673 4963 - information from M E C Stewart, 2 June 1970). Described as a ring fort by Wainwright and as a dun by Feachem what was probably a large circular homestead with a substantial roof was excavated in 1969 under the direction of Mrs M E C Stewart and Messrs H Fairhurst and D B Taylor (D B Taylor 1969).
A massive stone wall, 7-10ft thick and c4ft maximum height surrounded an inner area 55ft in diameter with a dished floor. Two concentric rings of post-holes were found at about 10ft and 15ft from the centre which was occupied by a hearth.
The surrounding wall was formed of inner and outer faces of large boulders and blocks of stone, with infilling of smaller stones. No pottery was found but a number of pieces of slag and a few fragments of rotary querns and stone discs were uncovered. There was no conclusive evidence of an enclosure (c/f NN44SE 7).
Information from F T Wainwright, undated; OS 6" map annotated by A L F Rivet, 4 June 1962; 1" trace by R W Feachem.
A homestead at NN 7666 4966. It measures overall 21.8m N-S by 21.0m E-W with a wall thickness 2.8m in the E and SW increasing to 3.1m in the N. The outer face is well defined round the N half but is intermittent elsewhere. Rubble from the excavation obscures the inner periphery in the W and elsewhere only scattered remnants of the inner wall face survive Mutilated entrance gap in SSW.
Surveyed at 1/10 000.
Visited by OS (JM) 28 November 1974
The following structures, classified variously as duns or ring-forts, may be compared:
NM80SE 46; NN83NE 1 and NN83NE 5 ; NM91SE 6 and NM91SE 8 ; NN84NE 2; NN12NW 3; NN84SW 3; NN12NE 2; NN85NW 3; NN39NW 1; NN85NE 1; NN44SE 2, NN44SE 7, NN44SE 8, NN44SE 9, NN44SE 10 ; NN85SW 10; NN54NN 1, NN85SE 12 and NN85SE 17 ; NN54NE 1; NN86NE 12; NN54SE 1; NN86SW 1, NN86SW 2, NN86SW 4, NN86SW 6, NN86SW 11 ; NN63NW 5, NN63NW 6, NN63NW 16 ; NN86SE 3, NN86SE 4, NN86SE 5, NN86SE 6, NN86SE 7, NN86SE 8 ; NN63SW 3; NN93NW 1; NN64NW 1 and NN64NW 2 ; NN94NE 4; NN64NE 2 and NN64NE 3 ; NN95NW 2 and NN95NW 22 ; NN65NW 2 and NN65NW 6 ; NN95NE 3 and NN95NE 4 ; NN65NE 7 and NN65NE 14 ; NN95SW 9 and NN95SW 10 ; NN74NW 2; NN97SW 1; NN74NE 6; NR98NE 1; NN74SW 7 and NN74SW 13 ; NR98SW 24; NN75NW 2, NN75NW 3, NN75NW 6, NN75NW 11 ; NN75NE 2 and NN75NE 7.
(Undated) information in NMRS.
