Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC2466: Dunadd  

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HER:  The West of Scotland Archaeology Service 4154

NMR:  NR 89 SW 1 (39564)

SM:  90108

NGR:  NR 8365 9356

X:  183650  Y:  693560  (EPSG:27700)

Boundary:  

Summary

The fort on the summit of Dunadd is well-known as the major seat of power in the early medieval kingdom of Dalriada, and the remains include an important group of rock-carvings comprising: the incised outline of a boar; a sunken footprint; a rock-cut basin; and an ogam inscription. The remains of the fort itself, the walls of which variously stand to a height of 1m or have been reduced to mere bands of rubble, comprise four main elements: a small enclosure of no more than 0.02ha on the summit; a smaller enclosure taking in the rest of the crest of the ridge to the NE; and enclosure of about 0.05ha on a terrace below the crest on the SE; and a larger outer enclosure taking in a further 0.11ha on this flank and including the remarkable entrance passage that mounts the slope to the interior via a deep cleft in the outcrops between the terminals of the outer wall. In addition bands of rubble that may indicate the lines of other walls can be seen at various points on the W and N, while on the E lines of boulders between the outcrops may indicate the presence of a much larger outer enclosure on this side, though apparently not one bounded by a defensive wall. Excavations have been carried out on three occasions in the 20th century, firstly by David Christison in 1904-5, then by James Hewat Craw in 1929, and lastly by Alan Lane in 1980-81, these last are now fully published with an overall synthesis of the history of occupation and analyses of all the artefacts that have been recovered, which conclusively demonstrate that this was a major royal centre in the early medieval period (Lane and Campbell 2000). Excavations on the small summit enclosure or dun, however, not only revealed two early medieval phases of construction (though the earlier is possibly Roman Iron Age in date), but also rubble that may have been the remains of an earlier wall and possibly to be associated with a single radiocarbon date of 410-200 cal BC; there was also evidence of a slightly later period of occupation in the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD. The date of the construction of the inner of the lower enclosures on the SE flank is unknown, but it seems to have been in place in the 6th-7th centuries AD, while the outer enclosure seems to represent an extension of the fort in the 8th-9th centuries AD.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed:  A so-called nuclear fort in which the innermost enclosure is no more than a dun, but the outermost enclosures take in an area well in excess of the 0.2ha threshold

Location

X:  -609918  Y:  7575512  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -5.478989  Latitude:  56.085784  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Argyll & Bute

Historic County:   Argyll

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Kilmichael Glassary

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:  50.0m

Boundary

Boundary Type:  

Second HER:  

Second Current County or Unitary Authority:  

Second Historic County:  

Second Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  

Dating Evidence

Main weight of dates fall AD 400-800, but two earlier dates fall on the cusp of the millennia and a third firmly in the period 400 BC-AD 50. In addition there is an extensive assemblage of early medieval artefacts. None of the walls is closely dated.

Reliability:  A - High

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

Pre Hillfort Activity:  ✓  Earlier lithics and Bronze Age pottery and a halberd

Post Hillfort Activity:  ✗  

Artefactual:  Large early medieval assemblage
C14:  Eighteen dates from various contexts
Other:  Literary

Investigations

RCAHMS collection also contains a wide range of photographic material and aerial photographs.

1st Identified Written Reference (1833):  Sketch by James Skene, who recognised its position in Dalriada (Thomas 1879, 32; RCAHMS AGD 568/2)
Other (1850):  Lecture by W F Skene (Christison 1904, 224-5)
1st Identified Map Depiction (1865):  Annotated Fort on 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Argyll and Bute 1873, sheet 160.3)
1st Identified Map Depiction (1878):  Description by Capt FWL Thomas writing on the footprint (1879)
Earthwork Survey (1903):  Sketch-plan and description by David Christison (1904, 224-33, figs 17-24)
Excavation (1904):  Directed by David Christison on behalf of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (1905, 292-322)
Earthwork Survey (1905):  By Thomas Ross for David Christison (Christison 1905, 296. fig 20)
Excavation (1905):  Directed by David Christison on behalf of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (1905, 292-322)
Earthwork Survey (1929):  By James Hewat Craw, but based upon the plan by Thomas Ross
Excavation (1929):  Directed by James Hewat Craw on behalf of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (Craw 1930)
Earthwork Survey (1955):  Plan published by Richard Feachem (1955, 81, fig 8), based on Craw's of 1929 and including observations by RBK Stevenson (Stevenson 1949, 192-4)
Other (1973):  Resurveyed by the OS at 1:2500
Other (1977):  Resurveyed by the OS at 1:2500
Excavation (1980):  Directed by Alan Lane on behalf of the Scottish Development Department (Lane 1980; Lane and Campbell 2000)
Excavation (1981):  Directed by Alan Lane on behalf of the Scottish Development Department (Lane 1981; Lane and Campbell 2000)
Excavation (1981):  Plan and description (RCAHMS 1988, 149-59, no.248: RCAHMS DC13286-8)
Other (1994):  Re-Scheduled
Other (2013):  Re-Scheduled

Interior Features

Largely featureless but there are several scoops and rectangular structures in the lower enclosures

Water Source

Well in the outermost enclosure. Well is undated.

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

Surface

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

Excavation

Occupation and metalworking

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

Excavations here on three occasions in the 20th century have produced one of the largest assemblages of early medieval artefacts found anywhere in Scotland, with a wide range of high status goods including European imports, and evidence of a major centre of metalworking. In addition, finds of earlier date include a fragment of a Bronze Age vessel, a few fragments of Samian and Roman glass, and a Neolithic stone ball.

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

See main summary

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  1:  The only clearly defined entrance is in the outer enclosure

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗  

Entrance 1 (Southeast):  Passage-way/Corridor:  Through a deep cleft in the outcrops

Enclosing Works

A central citadel with a series of outer enclosures

Enclosed Area 1:  0.02ha.
Enclosed Area 2:  0.16ha.
Enclosed Area 3:  
Enclosed Area 4:  
Total Enclosed Area:  0.2ha.

Total Footprint Area:  0.44ha.

Multi-period Enclosure System:  ✓  

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:  ✓  The defences do not resolve particularly well into this structure, which notes the perimeters of the three principal enclosures on the E flank

Number of Ramparts:  3

Number of Ramparts NE Quadrant:  3
Number of Ramparts SE Quadrant:  1
Number of Ramparts SW Quadrant:  1
Number of Ramparts NW Quadrant:  1

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:  ✗  The outer enclosures of the fort might be construed as annexes, though in practice they represent the interior of the fortification around a small citadel that in other terms is no more than a dun.

References

Christison, D (1904) 'The forts of Kilmartin, Kilmichael Glassery, and North Knapdale, Argyll'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 38 (1903-4), 205-55

Christison, D (1905) 'Report on the Society's excavations of forts on the Poltalloch Estate, Argyll, in 1904-5'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 39 (1904-5), 259-325

Craw, J H (1930) 'Excavations at Dunadd and at other sites on the Poltalloch Estates, Argyll'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 64 (1929-30), 111-46

Feachem, R W (1955) 'Fortifications'. 66-86 in Wainwright, F T (ed) The Problem of the Picts. Nelson: Edinburgh

Lane, A M (1980) 'Dunadd (Kilmichael and Glassary p), fort'. Disc Exc Scot 1980, 31

Lane, A M (1981) 'Dunadd (Glassary p), fort'. Disc Exc Scot 1981, 30-1

Lane and Campbell, A and E (2000) Dunadd: an early Dalriadic capital, Cardiff Studies in Archaeology. Oxbow: Oxford

RCAHMS (1988) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Argyll: an inventory of the monuments volume 6: Mid-Argyll and Cowal, prehistoric and early historic monuments. HMSO: Edinburgh

Stevenson, R B K (1949) 'The nuclear fort of Dalmahoy, Midlothian, and other Dark Age capitals'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 83 (1948-9), 186-98

Thomas, F W L (1879) 'Dunadd, Glassary, Argyllshire; the place of inauguration of the Dalriadic Kings'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 13 (1878-9), 28-47

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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