Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC2753 Skye, Dun Garsin, Inverness-shire

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

HER:  Highland HER MHG4876 (None)

NMR:  NG 33 NE 1 (11047)

SM:  912

NGR:  NG 3609 3878

X:  136090  Y:  838780  (OSGB36)

Summary

This heavily-robbed broch, from which stones were thrown down to build the revetment beside the public road, stands within the remains of a larger enclosure on a rocky hillock that rises some 10m above the more accessible approach from the NW and 30m above the shore on the SE. The wall of the irregular outer enclosure forms little more than a thin band of rubble extending around the margin of the summit to take in an area measuring about 45m from NE to SW by up to 32m transversely (0.13ha). The position of the entrance is not known, though that of the broch faces E. The relationship between the broch and the outer enclosure cannot be determined without excavation; either the outer wall sprang from the foot of the broch, or else it underlies it.

Status

Citizen Science:  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Unconfirmed

Location

X:  -711389  Y:  7834645  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -6.390519820298955  Latitude:  57.362844721219965  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Highland

Historic County:  Inverness-shire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Bracadale

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:  30.0m

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:   Heavy stone robbing

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

Photographed by RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme in 2013

Investigations:
1st Identified Map Depiction (1877):   Annotated Fort on the 1st edition OS 6-inch map (Inverness-shire,Skye, 1881, sheet 28)
Other (1915):   Description (RCAHMS 1928, 143, no.482)
Other (1961):   Visited by the OS; divorced plan
Other (1963):   Scheduled
Other (1984):   Description and sketch-plan (MacSween 1985, 41, fig 3)
Other (1985):   Description and sketch-plan (Swanson 1985, 884, cited by MacKie 2007, 831)

Interior Features

Featureless apart from the broch

Water Source

None

Source:
None  
Spring  
Stream  
Pool  
Flush  
Well  
Other  

Surface

Broch

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

None known

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
0:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   Not known

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  

Entrances:No related records

Enclosing Works

Single wall

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.13ha.
Total:   0.13ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✗   Excludes the broch wall and was probably continuous

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   1
SE Quadrant:   0
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

MacKie, E W (2007) The Roundhouses, Brochs and Wheelhouses of Atlantic Scotland c.700 BC-AD 500: architecture and material culture, the Northern and Southern Mainland and the Western Islands. BAR British series (2 V): Oxford

MacSween, A (1985) The Broch, Duns and Enclosures of Skye. Northern Archaeology 5-6 (1984-85), 1-57

RCAHMS (1928) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Ninth report with inventory of monuments and constructions in the Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles. HMSO: Edinburgh

Swanson, C B (1988) A contribution to the understanding of brochs, Unpublished Ph D thesis. University of 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


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