Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC2494: Iona, Dun Cul Bhuirg  

(Culbuirg)

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HER:  The West of Scotland Archaeology Service 232

NMR:  NM 22 SE 3 (21638)

SM:  7761

NGR:  NM 2649 2462

X:  126490  Y:  724620  (EPSG:27700)

Boundary:  

Summary

A small fortification occupies the summit of Dun Cul Bhuirg close to the NW coast of Iona. While the greater part of the summit is bare rock, falling away precipitously around the W half, elsewhere the remains of a wall are visible forming an enclosure measuring about 45m from E to W by 35m transversely (0.12ha). Excavations 1957-59 uncovered the remains of a small, stone-founded hut measuring about 4.5m by 4.3m internally, with a well-built central hearth. Much of the pottery from this hut has since been lost, but analysis of the assemblage and three glass beads from here and elsewhere within the fort suggests a period of occupation between the 1st century BC and the 3rd century AD (Ritchie and Land 1980).

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed:  Falls well below the 0.2ha threshold, but its position and the character of the defences indicate this is a small fort

Location

X:  -715449  Y:  7625348  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -6.42699  Latitude:  56.33476  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Argyll & Bute

Historic County:   Argyll

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Kilfinichen And Kilvickeon

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:  51.0m

Boundary

Boundary Type:  

Second HER:  

Second Current County or Unitary Authority:  

Second Historic County:  

Second Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  

Dating Evidence

The report for the excavations (Ritchie and Lane 1980) gave a broad assessment of the date of the material recovered in the period spanning from the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD, though this has not been refined with the new radiocarbon chronologies now available for similar pottery in the Western Isles. It is an assumption that this material relates to the occupation of the fort as such.

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:  ✗  

Artefactual:  Pottery and beads

Investigations

RCAHMS collection also contains the excavation archive with photographs and also aerial photographs taken by CUCAP, John Dewar (1969)

1st Identified Written Reference (1850):  Noted (Graham 1850, 2)
Excavation (1957):  Thomas and Megaw 1957; Ritchie and Lane 1980
Excavation (1958):  Burley and Fowler 1958, 14-15; Ritchie and Lane 1980
Excavation (1959):  Thomas 1959
Excavation (1968):  Reece 1973, 42-3; Ritchie and Lane 1980
Other (1972):  Surveyed at 1:10,000 by the OS
Earthwork Survey (1979):  Survey and description (RCAHMS 1980, 76-7, no.133, fig 59; 1882, 30-1, no.2; RCAHMS AGD 624/1-2)
Other (1996):  Visited (Rees 1996)
Other (1998):  Scheduled

Interior Features

Excavation uncovered a small hut with a central hearth

Water Source

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

Hearth

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

Surviving assemblage catalogued in Ritchie and Lane 1980, and includes large collection of pottery, a fragment of bronze, a fragment of iron, three glass beads and several pieces of flint

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

None known

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  0:  Not known

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗  

Enclosing Works

Single wall

Enclosed Area 1:  0.12ha.
Enclosed Area 2:  
Enclosed Area 3:  
Enclosed Area 4:  
Total Enclosed Area:  0.1ha.

Total Footprint Area:  

Multi-period Enclosure System:  ✗  

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:  ✗  

Number of Ramparts:  1

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

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:  ✗  

References

Burley and Fowler, E and P J (1958) 'Iona'. Disc Exc Scot 1958, 14-15

Graham, H D 1850 Antiquities of lona. London

RCAHMS (1980) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Argyll: an inventory of the monuments volume 3: Mull, Tiree, Coll and Northern Argyll (excluding the early medieval and later monuments of Iona). HMSO: Edinburgh

RCAHMS (1982) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Argyll: an inventory of the monuments volume 4: Iona. HMSO: Edinburgh

Reece, R 1973 'Recent work on lona', Scot Archaeol Forum 5 (1973), 36-46

Rees, T (1996) 'Iona (Kilfinichen and Kilvickeon parish), multi-period archaeological survey'. Disc Exc Scot 1996, 19

Ritchie and Lane, J N G and A M (1980) 'Dun Cul Bhuirg, Iona, Argyll'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 110 (1978-80), 209-29

Thomas, A C (1959) 'Iona'. Disc Exc Scot 1959, 10

Thomas and Megaw, A C and J V S (1957) 'Dun Cul Bhuirg, Iona'. Disc Exc Scot 1957, 10-11

Topping, P G (1985) 'Later prehistoric pottery from Dun Cul Bhuirg, Iona, Argyll'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 115 (1985), 199-209

Topping, P G (1987) 'Typology and chronology in the later prehistoric pottery assemblages of the Western Isles', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 117 (1987), 67-84

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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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