HER:  Angus SMR per Aberdeenshire Council NO56NE0001 (None)
NMR:  NO 56 NE 1 (34969)
SM:  90069
NGR:  NO 5553 6686
X:  355530  Y:  766860  (OSGB36)
This complex series of fortifications is situated on the Brown Caterthun, the NE of two rounded hills crowned by forts to either side of the saddle carrying the minor public road across the hills to Bridge of Lethnot. These form a series of enclosures of differing sizes, and though they have been sampled by excavation, which revealed further complexity, the precise sequence of their construction is not fully understood. The innermost enclosure, which is probably also the most recent, is oval on plan and measures about 88m from NNW to SSE by 55m transversely (0.28ha) within a low bank; excavation on the S of one of the five entrances through this bank uncovered twin palisade trenches partly beneath its line; the observed relationships at different points between the palisade trenches and the bank were contradictory, but the presence of the packing stones rising in some places into the body of the bank implies that they are either contemporary or the palisades were cut through the bank; A radiocarbon date from the buried ground surface provides a terminus post quem of 360-40 cal BC. The only features within its interior are a little W of centre a rock-cut pit apparently dating from 800-400BC, and occupying the S end an undated enclosure defined by a shallow ditch 1m broad by 0.3m deep. The next line of defences lies eccentrically between 50m and 20m down the slope, comprising a substantial bank about 7m thick by 1.5m high, from which occasional runs of outer face protrude, with two low outer terraces lying concentrically outside it; Internally this enclosure measures about 190m from N to S by 140m transversely (2ha). Excavation revealed a stone foundation over 4m thick in the core of this bank, probably originally with a turf capping, while a palisade trench ran to the rear of the inner of the two outer terraces. One of nine entrances that pierce these defences was excavated on the E, not only revealing two phases of construction, but also a timber-lined entrance passage approaching from the exterior. The registration of the gaps through the rampart and those through the outer terraces is relatively close, probably indicating that these defences are closely related, but the axis of the northernmost is curiously dislocated to create an oblique approach that exposes the visitor's left side, while a tenth possible gap in the outer terraces on the SW is blocked by the inner line, raising a possibility that the outer may be of earlier date. The chronology of any of these lines lacks any precision, but they probably date from before 400BC. The outermost circuits comprise two ramparts, each accompanied by extensive traces of shallow quarry scoops to their rear, and the outer with an external ditch and a counterscarp bank. These two circuits are pierced by no fewer than nine entrances, of which those on the NE, ESE, SSE, S and NW share axes with entrances through the middle lines; worn hollows can be seen traversing the space between the ramparts and in the case of the four around the SE quadrant the tracks are flanked by low walls or banks. Excavation, however, has shown that while the inner of these two ramparts, which was of composite earth, turf and stone construction and laced with timbers, dates from before 400 BC, charcoal from the old ground surface below the outer returned a date of 410-160 cal BC. This latter was little more than a dump of quarried material, probably with a turf outer face, and in one place an earlier palisade trench was found beneath the counterscarp bank. The configuration of these outer defences presents a curious misalignment to create the appearance of an enclosure between the two lines on the E, though to some extent this is now confounded by the radiocarbon chronology. Nevertheless, the outer cannot have operated in isolation, and the banks flanking entrances and running back to gaps in the inner imply that at the time of its construction the two were conceived in unison. This is an indication that there are further complications to be unravelled in the structure of the inner, particularly as one of the five radiocarbon dates from the timberwork in its core is directly contemporary with the one from beneath the outer. With the exception of what may be an unfinished line of defence, which can be seen contouring around the SE spur, these represent the most extensive enclosure on the hill, taking in an area of some 5.5ha; the projection of the unfinished line, however, takes in 8.88ha.
Citizen Science:  ✗
Reliability of Data:  Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed
X:  -303855  Y:  7717564  (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude:  -2.72957268340612  Latitude:  56.79121382820022  (EPSG:4326)
Country:  Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority:  Angus
Historic County:  Angus
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Menmuir
None
Extant   | ✓ |
Cropmark   | ✗ |
Likely Destroyed   | ✗ |
None
Woodland   | ✗ |
Commercial Forestry Plantation   | ✗ |
Parkland   | ✗ |
Pasture (Grazing)   | ✓ |
Arable   | ✗ |
Scrub/Bracken   | ✗ |
Bare Outcrop   | ✗ |
Heather/Moorland   | ✓ |
Heath   | ✗ |
Built-up   | ✗ |
Coastal Grassland   | ✗ |
Other   | ✗ |
None
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:  None
North   | ✗ |
Northeast   | ✗ |
East   | ✗ |
Southeast   | ✗ |
South   | ✗ |
Southwest   | ✗ |
West   | ✗ |
Northwest   | ✗ |
Level   | ✓ |
Altitude:  286.0m
N/A
On the basis of the limited excavations it is not possible to demonstrate the precise sequence of fortification, or its precise chronology; nor can it be shown that occupation was continuous. Nevertheless, the dates clearly show that the fortifications belong in the pre-Roman Iron Age, with major phases of fortification both before and after 400 BC
Reliability:  B - Medium
Pre 1200BC   | ✓ |
1200BC - 800BC   | ✗ |
800BC - 400BC   | ✓ |
400BC - AD50   | ✓ |
AD50 - AD400   | ✗ |
AD400 - AD 800   | ✗ |
Post AD800   | ✗ |
Unknown   | ✗ |
Pre Hillfort:   | None |
Post Hillfort:   | None |
C14:   | Thirteen radiocarbon dates |
RCAHMS holds the excavation archives.
1st Identified Map Depiction (1755):   | William Roy's Military Map of Scotland (1747-55) |
Earthwork Survey (1755):   | Plan by William Roy (1793, pl xlviii) |
Other (1793):   | Noted (Stat Acct, v, 1793, 151) |
Excavation (1845):   | Reported by Alexander Warden, but possibly in confusion for the White Caterthun (1880-5, iv, 366-8) |
Other (1863):   | Annotated Fort on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Forfar 1865, sheet 19.15) |
Other (1882):   | Scheduled |
Earthwork Survey (1898):   | Plan and description by David Christison (1898, 258, fig 99, 261-3; 1900, 102 fig 52, 105-6) |
Other (1956):   | Description for RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands (Feachem 1963, 107-8) |
Other (1958):   | Visited by the OS |
Other (1982):   | Recognition of the unfinished sector (Ralston 1982) |
Earthwork Survey (1989):   | Plan and description (RCAHMS DC14826 & SC337178) |
Other (1994):   | Visited by the Hill-Fort Study Group |
Geophysical Survey (1995):   | As part of the excavations by CFA Ltd (Dunwell and Strachan 2007) |
Excavation (1995):   | By CFA Ltd (Dunwell and Strachan 1995; 2007) |
Excavation (1996):   | By CFA Ltd (Dunwell and Strachan 1996; 2007) |
Other (2000):   | Re-Scheduled |
Featureless apart from the minor enclosure within the innermost defences, and the nearby rock-cut pit. The inner rampart of the middle lines has traces of some internal quarrying to its rear, but this is a particular feature of the ramparts of the outer lines.
None
None   | ✓ |
Spring   | ✗ |
Stream   | ✗ |
Pool   | ✗ |
Flush   | ✗ |
Well   | ✗ |
Other   | ✗ |
None
No Known Features   | ✗ |
Round Stone Structures   | ✗ |
Rectangular Stone Structures   | ✗ |
Curvilinear Platforms   | ✗ |
Other Roundhouse Evidence   | ✗ |
Pits   | ✗ |
Quarry Hollows   | ✓ |
Other   | ✗ |
Pits, gullies and post-holes, and otherwise invisible palisade trenches
No Known Excavation   | ✗ |
Pits   | ✓ |
Postholes   | ✓ |
Roundhouses   | ✗ |
Rectangular Structures   | ✗ |
Roads/Tracks   | ✗ |
Quarry Hollows   | ✗ |
Other   | ✓ |
Nothing Found   | ✗ |
None
No Known Geophysics   | ✗ |
Pits   | ✗ |
Roundhouses   | ✗ |
Rectangular Structures   | ✗ |
Roads/Tracks   | ✗ |
Quarry Hollows   | ✗ |
Other   | ✗ |
Nothing Found   | ✓ |
An Iron knife blade, three hammer stones, a possible rubbing stone and a small assemblage of flints
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
9:   | None |
2:   | Multiple entrances through the various lines. Ignoring the five in the innermost circuit, these generalise into nine through each of the main inner and outer circuits, five of them on axes that penetrate both and are enumerated below with the same number. The innermost are enumerated first, followed by those in the middle belt, and finally those in the outer belt, to a total of 21 |
Guard Chambers:  ✗
Chevaux de Frise:  ✗
1. Simple Gap (North):   | Through innermost bank and palisades |
2. Simple Gap (East):   | Through innermost bank and palisades |
3. Simple Gap (South):   | Through innermost bank and palisades; staggered terminals |
4. Simple Gap (West):   | Through innermost bank and palisades |
5. Simple Gap (North west):   | Through innermost bank and palisades |
6. Oblique (North):   | Through the middle lines. Oblique approach exposing left side |
7. Simple Gap (North east):   | Through the middle lines |
7. Simple Gap (North east):   | Through the outer lines and roughly aligned on an entrance in the middle lines |
8. Simple Gap (East):   | Through the middle lines |
9. Simple Gap (East):   | Through the middle lines |
10. Simple Gap (South east):   | Through the middle lines |
10. Passage-way/Corridor (South east):   | Through the outer lines and aligned on an entrance in the middle lines |
11. Oblique (South):   | Through the middle lines; approaching obliquely through the outer lines exposing right side |
11. Passage-way/Corridor (South):   | Through the outer lines and aligned on an entrance through the middle lines |
12. Simple Gap (South west):   | Through the outer terraces of the middle lines |
13. Oblique (South west):   | Middle lines. Slightly oblique approach exposing right side |
14. Simple Gap (West):   | Through the middle lines |
15. Simple Gap (North west):   | Through the middle lines |
15. Simple Gap (North west):   | Through the outer lines and aligned on an entrance in the middle lines |
16. Oblique (North):   | Through the outer lines, exposing right side |
17. Passage-way/Corridor (East):   | Through the outer lines, which diverge abruptly in this sector |
19. Passage-way/Corridor (East):   | Through the outer lines and aligned on an entrance in the middle lines |
20. Simple Gap (South west):   | Through the outer lines |
21. Over-lapping (West):   | Outer lines. Oblique approach exposing left side |
At least six identifiable lines of earthworks, with other hidden lines of palisading, conforming to roughly three separate enclosures
Area 1:   | 0.28ha. |
Area 2:   | 2.0haf. |
Area 3:   | 5.55ha. |
Total:   | 5.55ha. |
Total Footprint Area:  8.88ha.
None
✓   | None |
✓   | None |
NE Quadrant:   | 6 |
SE Quadrant:   | 6 |
SW Quadrant:   | 6 |
NW Quadrant:   | 6 |
Total:   | 6 |
Partial Univallate   | ✗ |
Univallate   | ✗ |
Partial Bivallate   | ✗ |
Bivallate   | ✗ |
Partial Multivallate   | ✗ |
Multivallate   | ✓ |
Unknown   | ✗ |
Partial Univallate   | ✗ |
Univallate   | ✓ |
Partial Bivallate   | ✗ |
Bivallate   | ✓ |
Partial Multivallate   | ✗ |
Multivallate   | ✗ |
None
None   | ✗ |
Earthen Bank   | ✓ |
Stone Wall   | ✓ |
Rubble   | ✗ |
Wall-walk   | ✗ |
Evidence of Timber   | ✗ |
Vitrification   | ✗ |
Other Burning   | ✗ |
Palisade   | ✗ |
Counter Scarp Bank   | ✓ |
Berm   | ✗ |
Unfinished   | ✓ |
Other   | ✗ |
Ditches
None   | ✗ |
Earthen Bank   | ✓ |
Stone Wall   | ✓ |
Murus Duplex   | ✗ |
Timber-framed   | ✗ |
Timber-laced   | ✓ |
Vitrification   | ✗ |
Other Burning   | ✓ |
Palisade   | ✓ |
Counter Scarp Bank   | ✓ |
Berm   | ✗ |
Unfinished   | ✓ |
No Known Excavation   | ✗ |
Other   | ✓ |
✗   | None |
✓   | One being the minor unfinished work |
Number of Ditches:  2
✗   | None |
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
Dunwell and Strachan, A J and R (1995) 'Brown Caterthum (Menmuir parish), hillfort survey and excavation'. Disc Exc Scot (1995), 94-96
Dunwell and Strachan, A J and R (1996) 'Brown Caterthun (Menmuir parish), excavations'. Disc Exc Scot (1996), 13
Dunwell and Strachan, A J and R (2007) Excavations at Brown Caterthun and White Caterthun Hillforts, Angus, 1995-1997. TAFAC Monograph 5. Tayside and Fife Archaeological Committee: Perth
Feachem, R W. (1963) Guide to prehistoric Scotland. Batsford: London.
Ralston, I B M. (1982) 'Brown Caterhun Fort (Menmuir p), bank , ditch'. Disc Exc Scot (1982), 30.
Warden, A J. (1880-5) Angus or Forfarshire: the land and people, descriptive and historical (5v). Charles Alexander & Co: Dundee
Atlas of Hillforts:
Wikidata:
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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