Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC2477 Barr An Longairt, Argyll (Barr An Taolain)

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

HER:  The West of Scotland Archaeology Service 4592 (None)

NMR:  NR 98 SW 7 (40007)

SM:  3547

NGR:  NR 9205 8135

X:  192050  Y:  681350  (OSGB36)

Summary

Enclosing the summit of a low ridge, which drops away in a cliff along its W flank, there is an oval fortification measuring 40m from NNE to SSW by 22m transversely (0.07ha), within a wall up to 3m in thickness. Several runs of both faces are visible, constructed with massive blocks, but there is little trace of the wall extending along the cliff-edge on the W. There is an entrance on the E and another gap in the wall on the SW. Apart from a bothy butted against the wall on the E, the interior is featureless.

Status

Citizen Science:  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -593864  Y:  7554434  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -5.334771746331798  Latitude:  55.97999345099532  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Argyll & Bute

Historic County:  Argyll

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Kilfinan

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:  55.0m

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:   Rectangular bothy abuts the wall on the E

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

Photographed from the air by RCAHMS in 1987 and 1999.

Investigations:
1st Identified Map Depiction (1865):   Annotated Fort on 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Argyll and Bute 1873, sheet 171.15)
Other (1937):   Description (Knight 1937, 22-3)
Other (1942):   Description by Gordon Childe and Angus Graham for RCAHMS wartime Emergency Surveys
Other (1972):   OS depiction revised at 1:10,560
Other (1975):   Scheduled
Earthwork Survey (1985):   Plan and description (RCAHMS 1988, 145, no.238; RCAHMS DC13265-6)
Other (1994):   Re-Scheduled

Interior Features

Featureless apart from a rectangular bothy abutting the wall on the E

Water Source

None

Source:
None  
Spring  
Stream  
Pool  
Flush  
Well  
Other  

Surface

Later bothy

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

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:  
2:   also long gap in the wall on the W

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  

Entrances:
1. Simple Gap (East):   Certain entrance
2. Simple Gap (South west):   gap in the wall

Enclosing Works

Single wall

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.07ha.
Total:   0.07ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

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

Cowal Gazetteer (1967) Gazetteer of archaeological sites in Cowal: compiled by the Cowal Archaeological Society (p 46/3)

Knight, G A F (1937) 'Antiquities in the neighbourhood of Otter Ferry, Loch Fyne'. Trans Glasgow Archaeol Soc, New Ser, 9.1 (1937),

Paterson, M (1970) Cowal before history (p 21)

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



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