SC2625: Dundurn |
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HER: Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust 66760
NMR: NN 72 SW 3 (24873)
SM: 2885
NGR: NN 7080 2327
X: 270800 Y: 723270 (EPSG:27700)
Boundary: ✗
This early medieval fortification occupies the rocky hill rising out of the floor of Strath Earn on the S side of the river some 1.5km downstream from its debouchment from Loch Earn. The principle components of the fortifications are: a dun-like enclosure occupying the very summit of the hill; a wall following the line of the shoulder on the E, S and W to form a roughly triangular enclosure on the uppermost terrace of the hill; and a series of walls taking in lower terraces, including one on the SW and at least two on the N, with possibly a fourth on the NE. In addition a deeply hollowed trackway climbs the flank of the hill on the NW, where an earthwork comprising a bank and external ditch mounts the slope to cross over several terraces on the W, but also a flight of cultivation terraces; while the trackway may well be associated with the fortifications, there is no evidence to indicate that the rest of these features are associated with the early medieval occupation on the summit, though the earthwork is a substantial feature and has been shown by excavation to have been built in two phases. The dun-like enclosure on the summit measures no more than 25m from E to W by 20m transversely (0.04ha) within a grass-grown band of rubble. The triangular enclosure on the uppermost terrace takes in a much bigger area measuring a maximum of 85m from E to W by 50m transversely (0.4ha), while the walls taking in the lower terraces extend the overall area that has been enclosed to at least 2ha, albeit that large areas of this are steep and inhospitable slopes. No facing stones can be observed in the debris from these walls, but in each case they have collapsed into a massive scree of rubble, itself an indication of their original scale. The lowest of these enclosures on the NE flank of the hill is too far removed topographically from the core of the fortification to be included in the calculation of its overall extent, which also omits the earthwork on the NW. The hollow way on the NW leads up towards a gap in the wall at the NW of the lower terrace on the N flank, but there is no clearly-defined route to the summit; the excavators suggested there may once have been a built stairway on the S flank of the summit enclosure. Excavations by Leslie Alcock in 1976-7 (Alcock, Alcock and Driscoll 1989) evaluated the perimeters of the dun-like enclosure on the summit and the uppermost terrace enclosure, radiocarbon dates and artefacts demonstrating unequivocally that the upper fortifications are early medieval in date. The sequence of construction postulated by Alcock was initiated by a hypothetical palisade in the late 6th-early 7th century, inferred from the build up of midden deposits on the slope and the presence of structural timbers recovered from an overlying wattle floor. Thereafter, a timber and stone wall was built as the first phase in the erection of the dun-like enclosure in the 7th-9th centuries; notable features in this wall, which had been burnt, were that the outer face was apparently founded on horizontal timbers set in rock-cut grooves and ledges, and that nails had been used to pin together some of the lesser wooden members. Subsequently this wall was rebuilt, and though possible beam channels were identified in the rubble core, no nails were employed. Thought to be contemporary with this reconstruction, a massive wall up to 8m thick, and originally with an external face at least 4m high, was erected around the lip of the uppermost terrace; in a subsequent phase this wall was reinforced. It is assumed that the enclosure of the lower terraces is also associated with the stone fortification of the uppermost terrace. With the exception of a natural basin known as St Fillan's Well on the W of the uppermost terrace, the interior is featureless; the basin was sectioned during the excavations, and while it collects rain water, there is no evidence for its use in antiquity.
| Citizen Science: | ✗ |
| Reliability of Data: | Confirmed |
| Reliability of Interpretation: | Confirmed |
X: -455756 Y: 7635253 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -4.094124 Latitude: 56.384053 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Perth & Kinross
Historic County: Perthshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Comrie
| Extant: | ✓ |
| Cropmark: | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed: | ✗ |
| Woodland: | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation: | ✗ |
| Parkland: | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing): | ✓ |
| Arable: | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken: | ✓ |
| Bare Outcrop: | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland: | ✗ |
| Heath: | ✗ |
| Built-up: | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| Contour Fort: | ✓ |
| Partial Contour Fort: | ✗ |
| Promontory Fort: | ✗ |
| Hillslope Fort: | ✗ |
| Level Terrain Fort: | ✗ |
| Marsh Fort: | ✗ |
| Multiple Enclosure Fort: | ✓ |
| Hilltop: | ✓ |
| Coastal Promontory: | ✗ |
| Inland Promontory: | ✗ |
| Valley Bottom: | ✗ |
| Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop: | ✗ |
| Ridge: | ✗ |
| Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp: | ✗ |
| Hillslope: | ✗ |
| Lowland: | ✗ |
| Spur: | ✗ |
Dominant Topographic Feature: ✗
| North: | ✗ |
| Northeast: | ✗ |
| East: | ✗ |
| Southeast: | ✗ |
| South: | ✗ |
| Southwest: | ✗ |
| West: | ✗ |
| Northwest: | ✗ |
| Level: | ✓ |
Altitude: 170.0m
| Boundary Type: | ✗ |
Second HER: ✗
Second Current County or Unitary Authority: ✗
Second Historic County: ✗
Second Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: ✗
Wide range of dating materials, but the defensive sequence is not particularly closely dated
Reliability: B - Medium
| Pre 1200BC: | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC: | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC: | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50: | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400: | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800: | ✓ |
| Post AD800: | ✗ |
| Unknown: | ✗ |
| Pre Hillfort Activity: | ✗ |
| Post Hillfort Activity: | ✓ | Cultivation teraces on the lower slopes outside the defences on the W. |
| Artefactual: | E-ware, glass boss and beaker, silvered bronze dangle; mould fragments |
| C14: | Ten dates, and five from a structural timber for wiggle matching |
| Other: | Documentary sources |
The hill is depicted and named on William Roy's Military Survey of Scotland (1747-55) The RCAHMS collection holds the excavation archive and oblique aerial photography by RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme in 1991 and 1995.
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1899): | Description by David Christison (1898, 208-13; 1900, 64-7, fig 23) |
| Other (1949): | Description (Stevenson 1949, 192) |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1966): | Surveyed at 1:2500 by the OS |
| Other (1969): | Scheduled |
| Excavation (1976): | Evaluation directed by Leslie Alcock (Alcock, Alcock and Driscoll 1989) |
| Excavation (1977): | Evaluation directed by Leslie Alcock (Alcock, Alcock and Driscoll 1989) |
| Earthwork Survey (1988): | Plan (RCAHMS DC 11839-48) |
Featureless
| None: | ✗ |
| Spring: | ✗ |
| Stream: | ✗ |
| Pool: | ✓ |
| Flush: | ✗ |
| Well: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| No Known Features: | ✓ |
| Round Stone Structures: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures: | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms: | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence: | ✗ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
Evidence of intense occupation was recovered
| No Known Excavation: | ✗ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Postholes: | ✗ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✓ |
| Nothing Found: | ✗ |
| No Known Geophysics: | ✓ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| Nothing Found: | ✗ |
E-ware; glass boss, beads and beaker fragment, silvered bronze dangle; mould fragments, including for a stick-pin; iron nails; iron locks; iron knife; bone pins; leather shoe; wattle, wooden handled bowl, and structural timbers; whetstones; stone discs; two upper stones from rotary querns; possible sling stones ;mesolithic flints (see Alcock 1989 with fiche report and RCAHMS MS349 & MS2601).
| No Known Finds: | ✗ |
| Pottery: | ✓ |
| Metal: | ✓ |
| Metalworking: | ✓ |
| Human Bones: | ✗ |
| Animal Bones: | ✓ |
| Lithics: | ✓ |
| Environmental: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✓ |
NO APPARENT FEATURES
| APs Not Checked: | ✓ |
| None: | ✗ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Postholes: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
See main summary
| Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts: | 1: | on the NW |
| Number of Possible Original Entrances: | 0: | A hollow way on the NW is assumed to mark the original line of approach, a gap at the NW of the lower terrace on the N flank, there is no clearly defined route to the summit |
Guard Chambers: ✗
| Chevaux de Frise: | ✗ |
two walls around the summit, and others along the leading edges of lower terraces
| Enclosed Area 1: | 0.04ha. |
| Enclosed Area 2: | 0.4ha. |
| Enclosed Area 3: | ✗ |
| Enclosed Area 4: | ✗ |
| Total Enclosed Area: | 0.4ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.2ha.
| Multi-period Enclosure System: | ✓ |
| Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit: | ✗ | The configuration of the defences does not lend itself to this sort of analysis |
| Number of Ramparts: | 3 |
| Number of Ramparts NE Quadrant: | 2 |
| Number of Ramparts SE Quadrant: | 2 |
| Number of Ramparts SW Quadrant: | 3 |
| Number of Ramparts NW Quadrant: | 2 |
| Partial Univallate: | ✗ |
| Univallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate: | ✓ |
| Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate: | ✓ |
| Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Unknown: | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate: | ✗ |
| Univallate: | ✓ |
| Partial Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Multivallate: | ✗ |
| None: | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank: | ✗ |
| Stone Wall: | ✗ |
| Rubble: | ✓ |
| Wall-walk: | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber: | ✗ |
| Vitrification: | ✗ |
| Other Burning: | ✗ |
| Palisade: | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank: | ✗ |
| Berm: | ✗ |
| Unfinished: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| 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: | ✗ |
Ditches: ✗
| Number of Ditches: |
| Annex: | ✓ | The terraces lower down the slope are effectively annexes, though this does not fit with the concepts of hierarchical space in nuclear forts. |
Alcock, Alcock and Driscoll, L, E A and S T (1989) 'Reconnaissance excavations on Early Historic fortifications and other royal sites in Scotland, 3: Dundurn'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 119 (1989), 189-226; fiche
Christison, D (1898) Early fortifications in Scotland: motes, camps and forts: the Rhind lectures in archaeology for 1894. Blackwood & Sons: Edinburgh
Christison, D (1900) 'The forts, "camps", and other field-works of Perth, Forfar and Kincardine'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 34 (1899-1900), 43-120
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
Atlas of Hillforts: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk/?query=Atlas_of_Hillforts_4166_0%2CMain_Atlas_Number%2C2625
Wikidata: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q31097101
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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