Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC2059 Knock Scalbart, Argyll

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

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HER:  The West of Scotland Archaeology Service 3399 (None)

NMR:  NR 72 SW 25 (38807)

SM:  3096

NGR:  NR 7302 2222

X:  173020  Y:  622220  (OSGB36)

Summary

This fort encloses the summit of Knock Scalbart from which the ground falls away steeply on the S and SE. Roughly pear-shaped on plan, it measures 55m from NNW to SSE by a maximum of 49m transversely within a ruinous wall up to 4.6m in thickness, though it seems to reduce to less than 3m on the less easily accessible SE flank. The entrance is on the WSW, comprising an outer passage some 1.5m wide and 2.4m long, which broadens to 2.1m to the rear of door checks on either side; a gap in the wall on the E is probably secondary. Within the N half of the interior there are two probable round-houses, the better defined measuring about 8.5m in diameter within a low bank broken by an entrance on the W, while on the S there is also a small rock-cut platform beside a mound surmounted by the OS triangulation pillar. Later activity has also seen the construction of two small pens, one butting against the wall on the E, and the other within its thickness on the NE.

Status

Citizen Science:  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -622290  Y:  7447956  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -5.590127676344007  Latitude:  55.44113147905383  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Argyll & Bute

Historic County:  Argyll

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Campbeltown

Monument Condition

None

Condition:
Extant  
Cropmark  
Likely Destroyed  

Land Use

None

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

Landscape

Hillfort Type

None

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

Topographic Position

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

Dominant Topographic Feature:  None

Aspect:
North  
Northeast  
East  
Southeast  
South  
Southwest  
West  
Northwest  
Level  

Altitude:  215.0m

Boundary

N/A


Dating Evidence

In the absence of excavation, there are neither stratified artefacts nor radiocarbon dates to provide a chronology for the defences.

Reliability:  D - None

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

Other Activity:
Pre Hillfort:   The mound beneath the OS triangulation pillar is possibly the remains of an earlier Bronze Age cairn. A polished stone axe was found within the interior (Saville 2002).
Post Hillfort:   None

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

First depicted in 1866 on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Argyll and Bute 1869, sheet 257.4), it was visited by RCAHMS in 1955 during the Survey of Marginal Lands and planned in 1960 during the preparation of the County Inventory for Argyll (RCAHMS 1971, 72-3, no.170). It was Scheduled in 1971. The OS visited in 1977 and in 2001 a Neolithic polished stone axe was picked up in the interior (Saville 2002). The fort was photographed from the air by RCAHMS in 2008.

Investigations:
1st Identified Map Depiction (1866):   Annotated Fort on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Argyll and Bute 1869, sheet 257.4)
Other (1955):   Description during RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands
Earthwork Survey (1960):   Plan and description (RCAHMS 1971, 72-3, no.170; RCAHMS AGD 294/1-2)
Other (1971):   Scheduled
Other (1977):   Surveyed at 1:10.000 by the OS

Interior Features

Two probable round-houses

Water Source

None

Source:
None  
Spring  
Stream  
Pool  
Flush  
Well  
Other  

Surface

None

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

Excavation

None

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

Geophysics

None

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

Finds

Neolithic polished stone axe

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

Aerial

NO APPARENT FEATURES

Interior Features (Aerial):
APs Not Checked  
None  
Roundhouses  
Rectangular Structures  
Pits  
Postholes  
Roads/Tracks  
Other  

Entrances

See main summary

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
3:   sector of wall on the SE almost removed and a secondary gap on the E

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  

Entrances:
1. Passage-way/Corridor (West):   None

Enclosing Works

Single ruinous wall

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.19ha.
Total:   0.19ha.

Total Footprint Area:  0.25ha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✓   None

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

Morphology

Current Morphology:
Partial Univallate  
Univallate  
Partial Bivallate  
Bivallate  
Partial Multivallate  
Multivallate  
Unknown  

Detailed Morphology:
Partial Univallate  
Univallate  
Partial Bivallate  
Bivallate  
Partial Multivallate  
Multivallate  

Surface Evidence

None

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

Excavated Evidence

None

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

Other

Gang Working:
✗   None

Ditches:
✗   None

Number of Ditches:  None

Annex:
✗   None

References

Harding, D W (1997) 'Forts, duns, brochs and crannogs: Iron Age settlements in Argyll', in Ritchie, G The archaeology of Argyll, Edinburgh (p 120)

RCAHMS (1971) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Argyll: an inventory of the ancient monuments, volume 1: Kintyre. HMSO: Edinburgh

Saville, A (2002) 'Knock Scalbert, Argyll and Bute (Campbeltown parish), Neolithic stone axehead'. Disc Exc Scot, New ser, 3 (2002), 14



Terms of Use

This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 and should be cited as:

Lock, Gary and Ralston, Ian. 2024. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk


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