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Ratter

Broch (Iron Age)(Possible), Cairn (Period Unassigned)

Site Name Ratter

Classification Broch (Iron Age)(Possible), Cairn (Period Unassigned)

Alternative Name(s) Rattar, Dun 017

Canmore ID 8881

Site Number ND27SE 8

NGR ND 2504 7378

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/8881

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Digital Images

Administrative Areas

  • Council Highland
  • Parish Dunnet
  • Former Region Highland
  • Former District Caithness
  • Former County Caithness

Archaeology Notes

ND27SE 8 2504 7378.

(ND 2504 7378) Tumulus (NR) (Remains of)

OS 6" map, Caithness, 1st ed., (1873)

One of three mounds (the others being described on ND27SW 4) in a field called 'the Cairns Park'. It is shaped like an inverted boat, is 4 to 5ft in height and has large stones on edge and large slabs lying flat exposed where soil has been removed. Mr Campbell (R Campbell, Schoolmaster, Dunnet) sent its description to the Soc Antiq Scot, and Mr Anderson (presumably Joseph), one of the members, at a meeting of the Society pronounced it to be a Norse boat-burial, probably dating from Earl Thorfinn's sea-battle off the coast of Caithness in 1046.

Name Book 1873.

The remains of this heavily mutilated cairn survive to a height of 0.6m. The shape of the cairn is quite indeterminate as coastal erosion on the N side and the erection of a field wall on the S have all but eliminated the feature. In the centre of the summit a few large stones set on edge are probably the remains of a burial chamber.

Site resurveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (R B) 23 February 1965.

(ND 2504 7378) Cairn (NR) (site of)

OS 1:10,000 map, (1976)

A cairn aligned E-W measuring 11.3m in maximum length and 0.6m high.

The N side is severely eroded and the W end is indistinct. Stones on the top of the mound could be traces of a burial chamber.

C E Batey 1982.

The remains of the turf-covered cairn are generally as described by Batey 1982 and previous OS field investigator. These remains appear to be a southern segment of a cairn, surviving to 11.5m long and 4.5m broad. The noted evidence for a chamber is inconclusive.

Surveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (J B) 5 May 1982.

There are now no traces of any upright slabs to suggest that the cairn was chambered. It has been destroyed on the N by coastal erosion and on the S by cultivation on the side of a dyke that has cut across the mound. The N section reveals cairn core of small horizontal slabs.

Visited by J L Davidson 4 June 1989.

Activities

Field Visit (1873)

One of three mounds (the others being described on ND27SW 4) in a field called 'the Cairns Park'. It is shaped like an inverted boat, is 4 to 5ft in height and has large stones on edge and large slabs lying flat exposed where soil has been removed. Mr Campbell (R Campbell, Schoolmaster, Dunnet) sent its description to the Soc Antiq Scot, and Mr Anderson (presumably Joseph), one of the members, at a meeting of the Society pronounced it to be a Norse boat-burial, probably dating from Earl Thorfinn's sea-battle off the coast of Caithness in 1046.

Name Book 1873.

Field Visit (23 February 1965)

The remains of this heavily mutilated cairn survive to a height of 0.6m. The shape of the cairn is quite indeterminate as coastal erosion on the N side and the erection of a field wall on the S have all but eliminated the feature. In the centre of the summit a few large stones set on edge are probably the remains of a burial chamber.

Site resurveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (R B) 23 February 1965.

Project (1980 - 1982)

Field Visit (5 May 1982)

The remains of the turf-covered cairn are generally as described by Batey 1982 and previous OS field investigator. These remains appear to be a southern segment of a cairn, surviving to 11.5m long and 4.5m broad. The noted evidence for a chamber is inconclusive.

Surveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (J B) 5 May 1982.

Field Visit (1982)

A cairn aligned E-W measuring 11.3m in maximum length and 0.6m high.

The N side is severely eroded and the W end is indistinct. Stones on the top of the mound could be traces of a burial chamber.

C E Batey 1982.

Field Visit (4 June 1989)

There are now no traces of any upright slabs to suggest that the cairn was chambered. It has been destroyed on the N by coastal erosion and on the S by cultivation on the side of a dyke that has cut across the mound. The N section reveals cairn core of small horizontal slabs.

Visited by J L Davidson 4 June 1989.

Publication Account (2007)

ND27 3 RATTAR (‘Ratter’) ND/2504 7378

Possible broch in Dunnet, Caithness, consisting of the fragmentary remains of a large circular building of which no clear traces remain. It has also been diagnosed as a cairn [1, 3].

Sources: 1. NMRS site no. ND 27 SE 8: 2. RCAHMS 1911b, 27, no. 83: 3. Batey (ms) 1982, Dun 17.

E W MacKie 2007

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