Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC1471: Leckie  

Sources: Esri, DigitalGlobe, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, GeoEye, USDA FSA, USGS, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, and the GIS User Community

HER:  Stirling 656

NMR:  NS 69 SE 12 (45379)

SM:  3099

NGR:  NS 6926 9399

X:  269260  Y:  693990  (EPSG:27700)

Boundary:  

Summary

Excavation of the broch at Leckie, which lies on a steep-sided promontory formed between the E bank of the Leckie Burn and one of its tributaries, revealed that shortly after its destruction, the ruins of the broch were reconstructed as a short-lived structure, with a massive wall across the neck of the promontory. While the excavator, Euan MacKie, has described this as a promontory fort (MacKie 1982), the reconstruction of the broch wall in this form, which he suggested may have been unfinished, it seems to have done little more than mask an area of occupation that can have extended to little more than the interior of the broch. As such it is tiny, even in comparison to the smallest promontory works elsewhere, and is perhaps best regarded as a manifestation of the history of a broch, rather than the construction of a promontory fort. The finds assemblage, however, is remarkable, with a wide range of high status Roman goods as well as iron tools and other domestic debris, all pointing to a relatively brief period of occupation for all phases in the 1st-2nd centuries AD

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Unconfirmed:  The interior is tiny and little more than the interior of the broch

Location

X:  -456918  Y:  7582490  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -4.104567  Latitude:  56.120742  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Stirling

Historic County:   Stirlingshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Gargunnock

Condition

Extant:  
Cropmark:  
Likely Destroyed:  

Land Use

Woodland:  
Commercial Forestry Plantation:  
Parkland:  
Pasture (Grazing):  
Arable:  
Scrub/Bracken:  
Bare Outcrop:  
Heather/Moorland:  
Heath:  
Built-up:  
Coastal Grassland:  
Other:  

Landscape

Hillfort Type

Contour Fort:  
Partial Contour Fort:  
Promontory Fort:  
Hillslope Fort:  
Level Terrain Fort:  
Marsh Fort:  
Multiple Enclosure Fort:  

Topographic Position

Hilltop:  
Coastal Promontory:  
Inland Promontory:  
Valley Bottom:  
Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop:  
Ridge:  
Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp:  
Hillslope:  
Lowland:  
Spur:  

Dominant Topographic Feature:  

Aspect

North:  
Northeast:  
East:  
Southeast:  
South:  
Southwest:  
West:  
Northwest:  
Level:  

Elevation

Altitude:  45.0m

Boundary

Boundary Type:  

Second HER:  

Second Current County or Unitary Authority:  

Second Historic County:  

Second Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  

Dating Evidence

Rich assemblage with numerous Roman goods in addition to the four radiocarbon dates

Reliability:  B - Medium

Pre 1200BC:  
1200BC - 800BC:  
1200BC - 800BC:  
400BC - AD50:  
AD50 - AD400:  
AD400 - AD 800:  
Post AD800:  
Unknown:  

Pre Hillfort Activity:  ✓  The promontory fortification succeeded a broch, which in its turn may have succeeded a timber round-house. Also cupmarkings

Post Hillfort Activity:  ✗  

Artefactual:  Rich assemblage of finds including Roman goods
C14:  Four dates spanning the Roman Iron Age

Investigations

Discovered in 1970, it was excavated by Euan Mackie from 1970-75 (MacKie 1982; 1987; 2007, 1312-18). It was Scheduled in 1971. It was visited by the OS in 1975, and by RCAHMS in 1978.

Excavation (1970):  Discovery (MacKie 1970)
Other (1971):  Scheduled
Excavation (1971):  Mackie 1971
Excavation (1972):  Mackie 1972
Excavation (1973):  Mackie 1973
Excavation (1974):  Mackie 1974
Earthwork Survey (1975):  Mackie 1975
Other (1975):  Visited by the OS
Other (1978):  Visited by RCAHMS

Interior Features

Unclear what may have been associated with the promontory fort phase

Water Source

None:  
Spring:  
Stream:  
Pool:  
Flush:  
Well:  
Other:  

Surface

Broch

No Known Features:  
Round Stone Structures:  
Rectangular Stone Structures:  
Curvilinear Platforms:  
Other Roundhouse Evidence:  
Pits:  
Quarry Hollows:  
Other:  

Excavation

Elements of the broch etc

No Known Excavation:  
Pits:  
Postholes:  
Roundhouses:  
Rectangular Structures:  
Roads/Tracks:  
Quarry Hollows:  
Other:  
Nothing Found:  

Geophysics

No Known Geophysics:  
Pits:  
Roundhouses:  
Rectangular Structures:  
Roads/Tracks:  
Quarry Hollows:  
Other:  
Nothing Found:  

Finds

Wide ranging and rich assemblage.

No Known Finds:  
Pottery:  
Metal:  
Metalworking:  
Human Bones:  
Animal Bones:  
Lithics:  
Environmental:  
Other:  

Aerial

NO APPARENT FEATURES

APs Not Checked:  
None:  
Roundhouses:  
Rectangular Structures:  
Pits:  
Postholes:  
Roads/Tracks:  
Other:  

Entrances

Not known

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  

Number of Possible Original Entrances:   

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗  

Enclosing Works

Single thick wall overlying the broch

Enclosed Area 1:  0.01ha.
Enclosed Area 2:  
Enclosed Area 3:  
Enclosed Area 4:  
Total Enclosed Area:  0.0ha.

Total Footprint Area:  

Multi-period Enclosure System:  ✗  

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:  ✗  

Number of Ramparts:  1

Number of Ramparts NE Quadrant:  1
Number of Ramparts SE Quadrant:  
Number of Ramparts SW Quadrant:  
Number of Ramparts NW Quadrant:  

Current Morphology

Partial Univallate:  
Univallate:  
Partial Bivallate:  
Bivallate:
Partial Multivallate:  
Multivallate:  
Unknown:  

Multi-period Morphology

Partial Univallate:  
Univallate:  
Partial Bivallate:  
Bivallate:  
Partial Multivallate:  
Multivallate:  

Surface Evidence

None:  
Earthen Bank:  
Stone Wall:  
Rubble:  
Wall-walk:  
Evidence of Timber:  
Vitrification:  
Other Burning:  
Palisade:  
Counter Scarp Bank:  
Berm:  
Unfinished:  
Other:  

Excavated Evidence

None:  
Earthen Bank:  
Stone Wall:  
Murus Duplex:  
Timber-framed:  
Timber-laced:  
Vitrification:  
Other Burning:  
Palisade:  
Counter Scarp Bank:  
Berm:  
Unfinished:  
No Known Excavation:  
Other:  

Gang Working

Gang Working:  ✗ 

Ditches

Ditches:  

Number of Ditches:  

Annex

Annex:  ✗  

References

MacKie, E W (1970) 'Leckie, dun', Disc Exc Scot 1970, 46

MacKie, E W (1971) 'Leckie, dun', Disc Exc Scot 1971, 42-3

MacKie, E W (1972) 'Leckie, dun', Disc Exc Scot 1972, 38

MacKie, E W (1973) 'Leckie, broch and dun', Disc Exc Scot 1973, 54-5

MacKie, E W (1974) 'Gargunnock, Leckie broch and dun', Disc Exc Scot 1974, 63

MacKie, E W (1975) 'Gargunnock, Leckie broch and dun', Disc Exc Scot 1975, 54

MacKie, E W (1982) 'The Leckie broch, Stirlingshire: an interim report', Glasgow Archaeol J 9 (1982), 60-72

Mackie, E W (1987) 'Leckie Broch - The impact on the Scottish Iron Age', Glasgow Archaeol J 14 (1987), 1-18

MacKie, E W (2007) The Roundhouses, Brochs and Wheelhouses of Atlantic Scotland c.700 BC-AD 500: architecture and material culture, the Northern and Southern Mainland and the Western Islands, BAR British series 444(II), 444(1), 2 V Oxford

Terms of Use

The online version of the Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland should be cited as:

Lock, G. and Ralston, I. 2017.  Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. [ONLINE] Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk.

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