Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC2876 Dun Mor, Inverness-shire (Tighnaleac)

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

HER:  Highland HER MHG2651 (None)

NMR:  NH 44 NE 8 (12378)

SM:  4979

NGR:  NH 4574 4515

X:  245740  Y:  845150  (OSGB36)

Summary

Dun Mor is a massively constructed dun situated on the lip of a crag that falls away precipitously on the N and NW to the Breakachy Burn, but it also stands within a larger walled enclosure backing onto the cliff-edge. The dun itself measures about 24m from NNE to SSW by 16m transversely within a massive wall between 4.5m and 5.9m in thickness, in which both faces can be traced round the circuit, in places standing up to four courses high; its entrance is on the SE. The inner of the two outer walls follows an eccentric course around the southern and eastern flanks of the dun some 10m outside its wall to enclose an area measuring about 47m from NNE to SSW by 40m transversely (1.17ha); though reduced to its foundations, it measures about 3m in thickness and is also pierced by an entrance on the SE. The outer is even more heavily dilapidated, following the shoulder of the hillock. The relationship between these outer defences and the dun are unknown.

Status

Citizen Science:  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -509159  Y:  7856874  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -4.573855999265536  Latitude:  57.47037680101883  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Highland

Historic County:  Inverness-shire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Kilmorack

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:  200.0m

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:   None

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

Highland HER holds several photographs, including some taken in 2014, while it was photographed by RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme in 2007

Investigations:
1st Identified Map Depiction (1875):   Named in Gothic type on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Inverness-shire 1880, sheet 10.1)
Other (1886):   Description (Wallace 1886, 343)
Other (1943):   Description by Angus Graham and Gordon Childe for RCAHMS wartime Emergency Surveys
Other (1957):   Description for RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands (Feachem 1963, 128)
Other (1970):   Surveyed at 1:10,000 by the OS
Other (1979):   Description by RCAHMS
Other (1981):   Visited by the OS
Other (1991):   Scheduled

Interior Features

Featureless apart from the dun

Water Source

None

Source:
None  
Spring  
Stream  
Pool  
Flush  
Well  
Other  

Surface

The dun

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

The dun

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:  
1:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  

Entrances:
1. Simple Gap (South east):   None

Enclosing Works

Dun on the summit and two outer walls lower down the slope cutting off the cliff-edge

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.17ha.
Total:   0.17ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   Excludes the dun

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✓   Excludes the dun

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   0
SE Quadrant:   2
SW Quadrant:   2
NW Quadrant:   0
Total:   2

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

Feachem, R (1963) A guide to prehistoric Scotland. Batsford: London

Wallace, T (1886) 'Notes on ancient remains in the Beauly Valley, Inverness-shire'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 20 (1985-6), 340-55



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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