SC1704: Quothquan Law |
Sources: Esri, DigitalGlobe, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, GeoEye, USDA FSA, USGS, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, and the GIS User Community
HER: The West of Scotland Archaeology Service 10550
NMR: NS 93 NE 11 (47465)
SM: 2601
NGR: NS 9882 3842
X: 298820 Y: 638420 (EPSG:27700)
Boundary: ✗
This fort is situated on Quothquan Law, a craggy summit that forms a striking topographical feature in its immediate locality. The defences comprise two elements: an upper enclosure which in 1974 RCAHMS investigators saw as the primary fort; with an outer annexe-like enclosure taking in a lower terrace on the NW. On the SW, however, the ramparts of the annexe and the summit enclosure form a continuous scarp, and it is as likely that the two elements simply represent the minimum and maximum extents of the fort in different periods. The upper enclosure on the summit measures 120m from N to S by 70m transversely (0.7ha) within a single rampart reduced largely to a stony scarp, while the outer enclosure extends the interior to about 160m from NW to SE by 100m transversely (1.13ha). The enclosing defences at this end appear more substantial, with an outer concentric rampart and a medial ditch. A trackway climbs obliquely up the slope to an entrance on the SW of this outer enclosure, from which access to the summit would have been gained by following the rampart to the SE, but there is also another entrance into the upper enclosure on the NE. The interior of the upper enclosure is featureless, but at least seven house platforms can be seen in the outer enclosure.
| Citizen Science: | ✗ |
| Reliability of Data: | Confirmed |
| Reliability of Interpretation: | Confirmed |
X: -401703 Y: 7484878 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -3.60856 Latitude: 55.628826 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: South Lanarkshire
Historic County: Lanarkshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Libberton
| Extant: | ✓ |
| Cropmark: | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed: | ✗ |
| Woodland: | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation: | ✗ |
| Parkland: | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing): | ✓ |
| Arable: | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken: | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop: | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland: | ✗ |
| Heath: | ✗ |
| Built-up: | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| Contour Fort: | ✓ |
| Partial Contour Fort: | ✗ |
| Promontory Fort: | ✗ |
| Hillslope Fort: | ✗ |
| Level Terrain Fort: | ✗ |
| Marsh Fort: | ✗ |
| Multiple Enclosure Fort: | ✓ |
| Hilltop: | ✓ |
| Coastal Promontory: | ✗ |
| Inland Promontory: | ✗ |
| Valley Bottom: | ✗ |
| Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop: | ✗ |
| Ridge: | ✗ |
| Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp: | ✗ |
| Hillslope: | ✗ |
| Lowland: | ✗ |
| Spur: | ✗ |
Dominant Topographic Feature: A prominent and isolated craggy summit
| North: | ✗ |
| Northeast: | ✗ |
| East: | ✗ |
| Southeast: | ✗ |
| South: | ✗ |
| Southwest: | ✗ |
| West: | ✗ |
| Northwest: | ✗ |
| Level: | ✓ |
Altitude: 334.0m
| Boundary Type: | ✗ |
Second HER: ✗
Second Current County or Unitary Authority: ✗
Second Historic County: ✗
Second Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: ✗
In the absence of excavation, there are neither stratified artefacts nor radiocarbon dates to provide a chronology for the defences.
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC: | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC: | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC: | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50: | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400: | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800: | ✗ |
| Post AD800: | ✗ |
| Unknown: | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort Activity: | ✗ |
| Post Hillfort Activity: | ✗ |
| None: | No details. |
First noted by O G S Crawford from the air in 1939 (Feachem 1963, 130-1), it was visited in 1955 by RCAHMS during the Survey of Marginal Lands, and subsequently included in the County Inventory for Lanarkshire, having been planned in 1965 and revisited in 1974 (RCAHMS 1978, 104-6, no.236, fig 62). It was surveyed by the OS at 1:2500 in 1968. The fort was Scheduled in 1995. Oblique aerial photographs have been taken by CUCAP in 1972 and 1975, and by RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme in 1981, 1991 and 2010.
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1939): | First noted by O G S Crawford from the air in 1939 (Feachem 1963, 130-1) |
| Other (1955): | Description during RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands having been noted from vertical aerial photographs (106G Scot/UK 83: 3113-4). |
| Earthwork Survey (1965): | Plan (RCAHMS 1978, 104-6, no.236, fig 62; RCAHMS LAD 143/1-3) |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1968): | Surveyed at 1:2500 by the OS |
| Other (1975): | Earlier plan and description reviewed (RCAHMS 1978, 104-6, no.236, fig 62) |
| Other (1995): | Scheduled |
At least seven house platforms in the outer enclosure on the NW, though Feachem puts the figure at fourteen (1963, 130-1)
| None: | ✓ |
| Spring: | ✗ |
| Stream: | ✗ |
| Pool: | ✗ |
| Flush: | ✗ |
| Well: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| No Known Features: | ✗ |
| Round Stone Structures: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures: | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms: | ✓ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence: | ✗ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| No Known Excavation: | ✓ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Postholes: | ✗ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| Nothing Found: | ✗ |
| No Known Geophysics: | ✓ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| Nothing Found: | ✗ |
| No Known Finds: | ✓ |
| Pottery: | ✗ |
| Metal: | ✗ |
| Metalworking: | ✗ |
| Human Bones: | ✗ |
| Animal Bones: | ✗ |
| Lithics: | ✗ |
| Environmental: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
NO APPARENT FEATURES
| APs Not Checked: | ✗ |
| None: | ✓ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Postholes: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
See main summary
| Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts: | 2 |
| Number of Possible Original Entrances: |
Guard Chambers: ✗
| Chevaux de Frise: | ✗ |
| Entrance 1 (Northeast): | Simple Gap | |
| Entrance 2 (Southwest): | Simple Gap | |
| Entrance 2 (Southwest): | Oblique: | Trackway approaches obliquely exposing the visitor's left side |
Single rampart round the entire circuit, but with an additional ditch and outer rampart around the lower enclosure on the NW
| Enclosed Area 1: | 0.7ha. |
| Enclosed Area 2: | 1.13ha. |
| Enclosed Area 3: | ✗ |
| Enclosed Area 4: | ✗ |
| Total Enclosed Area: | 1.1ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 1.1ha.
| Multi-period Enclosure System: | ✗ |
| Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit: | ✓ | Representing only the outer enclosure on the NW |
| Number of Ramparts: | 2 |
| Number of Ramparts NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| Number of Ramparts SE Quadrant: | 1 |
| Number of Ramparts SW Quadrant: | 1 |
| Number of Ramparts NW Quadrant: | 2 |
| Partial Univallate: | ✓ |
| Univallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate: | ✓ |
| Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Unknown: | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate: | ✗ |
| Univallate: | ✓ |
| Partial Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Multivallate: | ✗ |
Counterscarp rampart in the sector where the ditch occurs
| None: | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank: | ✓ |
| Stone Wall: | ✗ |
| Rubble: | ✓ |
| Wall-walk: | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber: | ✗ |
| Vitrification: | ✗ |
| Other Burning: | ✗ |
| Palisade: | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank: | ✗ |
| Berm: | ✗ |
| Unfinished: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| 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: | ✗ |
Ditches: ✓
| Number of Ditches: | 1 |
| Annex: | ✓ | While it has been suggested that the outer enclosure is an annexe to the upper enclosure (RCAHMS 1978, 104, no.236), it is more likely to represent the maximum extent of the defences of a fort with a continuous line of defence taking in the upper slopes of the hill (Feachem 1963, 130-1). |
Feachem, R (1963) A guide to prehistoric Scotland. Batsford: London
RCAHMS (1978) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Lanarkshire: an inventory of the prehistoric and Roman monuments. HMSO: Edinburgh
Atlas of Hillforts: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk/?query=Atlas_of_Hillforts_4166_0%2CMain_Atlas_Number%2C1704
Wikidata: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q31104446
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.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.