Excavation

Date 2 August 2010 - 22 August 2010

Event ID 881324

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/881324

NO 1014 1695 The hillfort of Law of Dumbuils was excavated

2–22 August 2010 as part of the ongoing SERF project. The

fort is defined by three ramparts following the contours on

the N side of the hill. The ramparts tail off as the natural

slope steepens towards the S side. The main entrance is on

the NW side with a possible second entrance on the E side.

A trench 35m long by 2m wide was excavated across the

ramparts. The outermost rampart or counterscarp had been

greatly denuded and survived only as a very low earthen

mound. Inside this a shallow ditch had partially been cut

into the bedrock. The middle rampart also had an earthen

core, but was crowned by a palisade packed with massive

boulders. In between this and the innermost rampart there

was a roughly flat platform with portions of exposed bedrock.

The initial phase of the inner rampart was composed of an

earthen core, supported on its northern side by a stone-faced

timber palisade. At a later date this rampart was cut into

and broadened on its southern, interior, face. This secondary

phase was composed of large boulders, which probably

supported timbers. Two objects of iron, a small axe-head and

a circular disc, suggest that this phase dates to the Middle

Iron Age or later.

Within the entrance hollow there was a paved path and

to the S of this a pebbled surface. The southern edge of this

surface was defined by a rough line of boulders, running

along the base of a bedrock outcrop. On top of the pebble

surface was a spread of rubble with a variety of stone finds,

including hammerstones, a mortar, a pecked cup stone and

a cannel coal disc. Two test pits within the interior did not

record any archaeological deposits.

Archive: Currently University of Glasgow and RCAHMS (intended)

Funder: Historic Scotland, University of Glasgow and University of

Aberdeen