Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC2882 Dun Dearduil, Inverness-shire

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

HER:  Highland HER MHG3437 (None)

NMR:  NH 52 SW 4 (12569)

SM:  11884

NGR:  NH 5262 2384

X:  252627  Y:  823847  (OSGB36)

Summary

The local SW summit on this rocky ridge, 80m SW from the fort on the very summit (Atlas No. 2881), is also occupied by a small fortification, but in this case its wall has been very heavily robbed. Oval on plan, its interior measures about 25m from NE to SW by 20m transversely (0.04ha). The line of the outer face of the wall can be followed round the whole circuit, standing up to 0.9m high in two courses, and though there is little trace of the wall core, if three stones in a line on the S belong to the inner face, it was originally 4.7m thick. The Scheduling document also suggests there are traces of denuded outworks extending across the SW flank of the hill, though their extent is not recorded in plan and they are not visible on aerial photographs. The interior is featureless and no entrance is visible.

Status

Citizen Science:  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -494968  Y:  7817870  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -4.446372211845492  Latitude:  57.28148040907573  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Highland

Historic County:  Inverness-shire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Dores

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:  220.0m

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 robbing

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

RCAHMS photographed the fort from the air in 1994 and 1998, and Highland HER also hold ground views

Investigations:
1st Identified Written Reference (1906):   Noted (Wallace 1906, 188-9)
1st Identified Map Depiction (1970):   Surveyed at 1:10,000 by the OS
Earthwork Survey (1970):   Description and plan at 1:1250 by Keith Blood of the OS
Other (1979):   Surveyed at 1:10,000 by the OS
Other (2008):   Scheduled

Interior Features

Featureless

Water Source

None

Source:
None  
Spring  
Stream  
Pool  
Flush  
Well  
Other  

Surface

None

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:   0.04ha.
Total:   0.04ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   While not multi-period in itself, the relatively poor state of preservation of the wall here may indicate it was robbed to build the neighbouring fort on the summit

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

Wallace, T (1906) 'Vitrified fort on Dundearduil'. Trans Inverness Sci Soc Fld Club 6 (1899-1906), 188-91



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