Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC2117 Islay, Dun Bheolain, Argyll

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

HER:  The West of Scotland Archaeology Service 2016 (None)

NMR:  NR 26 NW 6 (37412)

SM:  13214

NGR:  NR 2102 6896

X:  121020  Y:  668960  (OSGB36)

Summary

This large headland, girt by cliffs everywhere except the SE, is crossed transversely by a series of rocky ribs separated by grassy gullies, which combine to give a distinctive stepped profile from the S and forms a prominent landmark on Islay's W coast. Two walls cut across the neck of the promontory, the inner adopting the leading edge of the first of these ribs on the S before swinging round the top of a broad gully to descend the slope to the cliff-edge on the N, and the outer the edge of a terrace on the slope below it on the SE; at least two possible points of access are also blocked by short lengths of wall. To the NW the interior extends for a distance of some 165m (2.33ha) and includes two of the grassy gullies cutting transversely across its axis, though there is no trace of any occupation in either. On the upper slope of the rib behind the inner wall, however, there are at least seven small irregular platforms, which the RCAHMS investigators suggested were probably rectangular rather than circular, and were perhaps associated with another three that they believed overlay the entrance through the outer wall adjacent to the SW margin of the promontory. This takes in an additional 0.5ha, largely made up of the terrace below the inner wall, which has also been enclosed by a later field bank and cultivated in rigs. While the three platforms observed by RCAHMS are set across a natural ramp extending up the slope, the configuration of the defences at this point is unclear, partly on account of the heavy stone robbing, and the entrance may have been lower down the ramp, where a natural cleft in the outcrops provides a natural line of access through the wall and up onto the terrace. Despite the uncertainty about the precise course of the outer wall here, there is evidence of a wall following the outer margin of the ramp and the two lines may have overlapped to form a confined entrance passage. Two gaps have also been identified in the inner wall, controlling access to the seaward end of the promontory. The interior has evidently been enclosed and utilised in later periods, which, as RCAHMS suggest, may account for the construction of the small platforms.

Status

Citizen Science:  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -718805  Y:  7525245  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -6.4571373752945265  Latitude:  55.833013702789195  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Argyll & Bute

Historic County:  Argyll

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Kilchoman

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:  A promontory with a very distinctive stepped profile from the S.

Aspect:
North  
Northeast  
East  
Southeast  
South  
Southwest  
West  
Northwest  
Level  

Altitude:  60.0m

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:   None
Post Hillfort:   Traces of field bank extending around the margin of the promontory, and cultivation rigs

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

While the New Statistical Account alludes to several fortified promontories in the parish of Kilchoman, attributing them to the Danes (NSA, 7, Argyle, 651), the fort is not shown on either the 1st or 2nd editions of the OS 6-inch map, which merely depicts the dun named Dun nan Nighean on the adjacent promontory on the N (Argyll and Bute 1882, sheet 196.6). It is, however noted by the Islay survey group (Celoria 1960, 1/30), and was visited subsequently by Frank Newall (Newall 1963). It was visited by the OS in 1978 and surveyed by RCAHMS during the preparation of the County Inventory for Argyll in 1979 (RCAHMS 1984, 86-8, no.144); it was photographed from the air by RCAHMS in 1977, 2005 and 2011. It was Scheduled in 2013.

Investigations:
1st Identified Written Reference (1960):   Description (Celoria 1960, 1/30)
Other (1963):   Noted by Frank Newall (1963)
Earthwork Survey (1979):   Plans and description (RCAHMS 1984, 86-8, no.144; RCAHMS DC136-9)
1st Identified Map Depiction (1979):   Surveyed at 1:10.000 by the OS
Other (2007):   Visited by the Hill-Fort Study Group
Other (2013):   Scheduled

Interior Features

Traces of

Water Source

None

Source:
None  
Spring  
Stream  
Pool  
Flush  
Well  
Other  

Surface

irregular rectilinear platforms

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

None

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

Aerial

PLatforms

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:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   One overall entrance in the outer line, but another two in the inner defences

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  

Entrances:
1. Over-lapping (South east):   Outer wall
1. Oblique (South east):   Oblique approach along outcrop terrace to outer wall exposing the right side
2. Simple Gap (South east):   Inner wall
3. Simple Gap (South east):   Inner wall

Enclosing Works

Two walls cutting off the promontory

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   2.33ha.
Total:   2.33ha.

Total Footprint Area:  2.9ha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✗   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   0
SE Quadrant:   2
SW Quadrant:   0
NW Quadrant:   0
Total:   2

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:
✗   The outer rampart is sufficiently far out from the inner that it might be considered to have formed an annexe, but it may equally have formed a freestanding inner line of defence in its own right, cutting off a total area of 2.8ha.

References

Celoria, F (1960) Islay gazetteer

Newall, F (1963) 'Forts and enclosures'. Disc Exc Scot 1963, 13

RCAHMS (1984) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Argyll: an inventory of the monuments volume 5: Islay, Jura, Colonsay and Oronsay. HMSO: Edinburgh



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


Document Version 1.1