Archaeology Notes

Event ID 695263

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/695263

NR79SE 17 7871 9113.

(NR 7870 9111) Fort (NR)

OS 6" map, Argyllshire, 2nd ed., (1924)

A short distance W of Barnluasgan is a double circular vallum of stones and earth, situated on a small rocky eminence.

Name Book 1867.

This fort is under afforestation; access is difficult and examination virtually impossible at present. It is situated on the SW end of a steep ridge, Christison (1904) giving its dimensions as 80' x 45'-50', with an entrance on the N. There are no traces of walling on the E, steepest, side, but on the W Campbell (1964) gives a wall thickness of 5'6", several courses high. A curved mound crosses the W side of the interior, possibly the remains of a "round tower", 40' in internal diameter, at the S end of the fort (Christison 1904).

D Christison 1904; M Campbell and M Sandeman 1964.

The much-mutilated remains of a dun measuring approximately 28.0m NE-SW by 17.0m over a tumbled wall up to 3.0m wide. Three massive courses of the outer face survive on the N. The entrance was in the NE. The 'curving mound' in the interior possibly represents the remains of a secondary enclosure overlying the dun. (?homestead - c/f NR79SE 3, NR79SE 4, NR79SE 5 ).

To the NE a mutilated stony bank probably represents the remains of an outwork (NR97SE 18).

Visited by OS (DWR) 23 May 1973.

NR 7872 9114. This site has been so ruined by reafforestation that the dun is now barely traceable, except in the north where several facing stones are visible, and in the NE where a transverse slab possibly represents the entrance. Due to the ruinous state of the site, the relationship of the dun and the 'curving mound' in the interior can no longer be determined with any certainty.

Surveyed at 1/10,000.

Visited by OS (TRG) 26 January 1977.

Scheduled as dun, enclosure and cairn, 200m W of Barnluasgan.

Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 12 December 2001.

A community excavation project, led by Kilmartin Museum, investigated this site in 2005. This was the first phase of an ongoing project, and involved a detailed survey of the upstanding remains of this site. There are two separate phases of building on this site, delineated by ther term 'dun' and 'enclosure'.

The dun is oval or egg-shaped, with a narrow end to the N. The overall dimensions of the dun are 28.7m x 17.2m (longest and widest parts measured). The exact thickness of the walls is unclear, as they have spread during their collapse, but they may have been up to 2m thick. A possible entrance may have been located to the NE, but this is postulated and not backed up by hard evidence. There is a small cairn, 12m from the northern edge of the dun, and consisted of a loose group of slightly mounded stones measuring 5.2m x 4.6m and standing no more than 0.8m high.

The enclosure appears to be sub-circular in shape and measured 18.3m x 15.4m. The tumbled nature of the surviving walls may have been up to 2m thick. Lengths of coursed facing could be traced around the outer wall circuit, most apparent to the S and N. The internal area of the enclosure at the E has been much reduced by stone robbing - the stone may well have been used in the nearby estate wall.

R Regan, S Webb, M Abbot 2005

NR 7 87 911 A survey was undertaken on Barnluasgan dun and enclosure, a Scheduled Ancient Monument within Forestry Commission land in North Knapdale Forest. The survey, undertaken in October and November 2005, provided a detailed contour survey over the surviving earthworks of the site as well as tracing the remaining wall lines. It has confirmed earlier work at the site, but has also brought to light new or previously unnoticed elements within the structures. It has also allowed a picture of the present state of the monument complex to be gleaned and has suggested

areas of the site that could be targeted for excavation.

Reports to be lodged with WoSAS SMR and NMRS.

Sponsors: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Forestry Commission, Leica, Kilmartin House Museum.

R Regan 2005