Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: City of Edinburgh No record found (None)
NMR: NT 16 NW 2 (50329)
SM: 1172
NGR: NT 1315 6655
X: 313150 Y: 666550 (OSGB36)
The greater part of the fort that stood on Kaimes Hill has been quarried away and now only a minor fragment of the ENE end survives beyond the disused N face of the quarry. Its defences were evidently complex, representing multiple phases, and it would be naive to believe that the true sequence of their construction and dates are understood from the rescue excavations conducted in 1940 at the WSW end under the supervision of Gordon Childe (1941), and more recently at the SSE side and at the ENE end from 1964 to 1972 by Derek Simpson (1969). Nevertheless, the circuits break down into two main elements, namely an inner and an outer enclosure, the former enclosing a roughly oval area measuring about 165m from E to W by 65m transversely (0.85ha), and the latter a less regular 260m from ENE to WSW by 120m transversely (2.3ha). Both Childe and Simpson found that the circuit of the inner enclosure had been adopted on at least two occasions, and that an earlier rampart had been partly demolished and replaced on a slightly different line. Childe also found another rampart buried on the slope below, with midden deposits built up against its rear and rubble from the later reconstruction apparently collapsed across it; on these grounds he assigned it to the earlier phase, though its course is concentric to the reconstructed circuit rather than the earlier line. Simpson likewise showed that the perimeter of the inner enclosure incorporated the remains of two ramparts, the core of the earlier of which contained burnt earth, some vitrified stones, and domestic debris and covered traces of burnt timbers at its base. The rampart that replaced it was itself of two periods of construction, the first a drystone wall, which was subsequently encased in a thicker deposit of earth and rubble with a massive outer face. At the entrance midway along the SSE side, the facing of the terminal of the earliest rampart had been carried into the interior, and in the later reconstructions this seems to have formed the rear face of a built inturn. Like Childe, he also identified a series of additional ramparts on the slope outside the inner circuit, mainly outside the entrance at the E end and largely hidden beneath the later occupation represented by numerous later stone-founded round-houses that existed around the S margin of the inner enclosure and sprawled across the defences down across the interior of the outer enclosure at the at the ENE end. The continuity of the circuit of the outer enclosure is represented by what is generally its outermost rampart, and it is not fully understood how this related to the two ramparts placed concentrically within it at the ENE end, or indeed to yet another rampart which detaches itself on the E to swing on a wider arc round the ENE end down to the cliff-edge on the N. Simpson made sense of this by assuming that the outermost rampart dug by Childe at the W end was the innermost of these ramparts at the ENE end (Simpson's rampart 5), but Childe believed he had excavated the outermost rampart shown on the various plans by Fred Coles (1896, 270, fig 1) and the RCAHMS investigators (1929, 160-2, no.216, fig 199) and identified by Simpson elsewhere as his rampart 7. The sequence of enclosure is evidently more complex than has been revealed by survey and excavation. Nevertheless, the outermost rampart was clearly an important circuit at some stage in the fort's history, pierced by entrances on the ENE, E and S, though not in the apparent gap tested by Simpson below the S entrance of the inner enclosure; the enhanced belt of defences at the ENE end flanks both the ENE and E entrances, and from the latter the route to the summit evidently passed through the complex of ramparts outside the E entrance of the inner enclosure. The outer enclosure was also accompanied by a chevaux de frise, which was identified on the RCAHMS plan at two points along the SSE side; in the area uncovered by Simpson, however, it was not a continuous belt. The main evidence of occupation within the fort is represented by stone-founded round-houses, two of which were excavated by Childe and others by Simpson. Some clearly overlie ramparts, as was first demonstrated by Childe, but in view of the uncertainties about the complete structural history of the defences, it would be unwise to assume that this represents a phase of essentially unenclosed or undefended settlement.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -377373 Y: 7535413 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -3.3900010295663603 Latitude: 55.88427906296565 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: City of Edinburgh
Historic County: Midlothian
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Ratho
The greater part of this fort was quarried and only a small fragment at the NE end remains
| 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: 245.0m
N/A
For what they are worth, old radiocarbon dates from several of the round-houses are essentially in the last four centuries of the 1st millennium BC, as is one from the core of the reconstructed rampart of the inner enclosure; a date from the earlier rampart falls in the early Iron Age plateau. The stray Roman finds are of little help in establishing the chronology of the later occupation. Horn (Forthcoming) nonetheless suggests start: 380-195 cal. BC, end: 340-130 cal. BC, span: 0-95 years
Reliability: A - High
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | A cairn stood on the summit and cup and ringmarks noted on several stones, some of which have been preserved (Morris 1981, 150), and one of the radiocarbon dates from a midden deposit beneath on of the round-houses calibrates to the final centuries of the 2nd millennium BC |
| Post Hillfort: | None |
| C14: | Eleven old radiocarbon dates |
Photographed by John Dewar in 1967, 1971 and 1972 (held by RCAHMS), and by RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme in 1976. Archive from Simpson's excavations is held by RCAHMS, where photographs of Gordon Childe's excavations are also to be found.
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1839): | Description (NSA, 1, Edinburghshire, 91-2) |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1852): | Annotated Fort on the 1st edition OS 6-inch map (Edinburghshire 1853, sheet 5) |
| Excavation (1872): | Description by John Alexander Smith, which evidently included some limited digging in several of the hut-circles (1874, 148-50) |
| Earthwork Survey (1893): | Plan and description by Fred Coles and James Cunningham (Coles 1896, 270, fig 1) |
| Other (1924): | Scheduled |
| Earthwork Survey (1927): | Plan and description (RCAHMS 1929, 160-2, no.216, fig 199; RCAHMS MLD 50/2 P) |
| Excavation (1940): | Directed by Gordon Childe (1941) |
| Excavation (1964): | Directed by Derek Simpson (MoPBW 1964; Simpson 1969) |
| Other (1965): | Surveyed at 1:2500 by the OS |
| Excavation (1965): | Directed by Derek Simpson (1969) |
| Excavation (1966): | Directed by Derek Simpson (1969) |
| Excavation (1967): | Directed by Derek Simpson (MoPBW 1967) |
| Excavation (1968): | Directed by Derek Simpson (MoPBW 1968) |
| Excavation (1969): | Directed by Derek Simpson (IAM 1969) |
| Excavation (1970): | At the summit cairn (DoE 1970) |
| Excavation (1971): | Directed by Derek Simpson (1971) |
| Excavation (1972): | Directed by Derek Simpson (1972) |
| Other (1995): | Re-Scheduled the surviving fragment |
Numerous stone-founded round-houses identified on the various surveys
A well marked on the 1st edition OS map was identified by Fred Coles low down on the N side and also appears on the RCAHMS survey of 1927.
| None | ✗ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✓ |
| Other | ✗ |
Numerous stony ring-banks have been identified, and also excavated.
| No Known Features | ✗ |
| Round Stone Structures | ✓ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| 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 | ✗ |
Finds from Simpson's excavations include coarse pottery, two iron knives and a socketed iron tool, several flints, stone balls, numerous hammerstones, a slate plaque, stone with a cup in it, a perforated stone, a shale ring fragment and a spindle whorl. From Childe's excavations came tiny fragments of pottery, stone balls, hammerstones and an iron arrowhead. Earlier stray finds include: in 1881 two fragments of possibly Roman glass, a sherd of coarse Roman pottery, part of a bronze ring and a denarius of Severus; in 1945, a fragment of bronze slag and a ring-shaped bead of pale blue glass;
| No Known Finds | ✗ |
| Pottery | ✓ |
| Metal | ✓ |
| Metalworking | ✓ |
| Human Bones | ✗ |
| Animal Bones | ✓ |
| Lithics | ✓ |
| Environmental | ✗ |
| Other | ✓ |
None
| APs Not Checked | ✗ |
| None | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✓ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
See main summary
| 5: | None |
| 2: | Three into the outer enclosure (1-3) and two into the inner (4-5) |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✓
| 1. Oblique (North east): | Obliquely piercing all the ramparts of the outer enclosure to expose the visitor's right side |
| 2. Over-lapping (East): | Piercing all the ramparts of the outer enclosure, the terminals of the inner gap apparently staggered to the extent of overlapping |
| 3. Simple Gap (South): | Piercing the outermost rampart of the outer enclosure, which is the only one visible in this sector |
| 4. Simple Gap (East): | Piercing a series of up to four ramparts at this end of the inner enclosure |
| 5. In-turned (South): | A complex entrance with inturns in three phases |
Complex multiple ramparts forming inner and outer enclosures, the innermost essentially univallate
| Area 1: | 0.85ha. |
| Area 2: | 2.3haf. |
| Total: | 2.3ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✓ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 8 |
| SE Quadrant: | 3 |
| SW Quadrant: | 4 |
| NW Quadrant: | 0 |
| Total: | 8 |
| 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 | ✗ |
None
| 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 |
| ✗ | None |
Number of Ditches: None
| ✗ | The rampart that swings round the outside of the ENE end was styled an annexe on the RCAHMS plan of 1927, but is better regarded as an element in the overall sequence of defences belonging to the outer enclosure. |
Childe, V G (1941) 'The defences of Kaimes Hill Fort, Midlothian'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 75 (1940-1), 43-54
Coles, F R (1896) 'Notes on the fortified site on Kaimes Hill'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 30 (1895-6), 269-74
Feachem, R W (1963) Guide to prehistoric Scotland. Batsford: London (p 137)
Horn, J. Forthcoming. The dating of hillforts in Britain and Ireland. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Edinburgh.
IAM (1969) Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments. 'Kaimes Hill, Midlothian'. Disc Exc Scot (1969), 54
MoPBW (1964) Ministry of Public Buildings and Works. 'Kaimes Hill, Midlothian'. Disc Exc Scot (1964), 57
MoPBW (1967) Ministry of Public Buildings and Works. 'Kaimes Hill, Midlothian'. Disc Exc Scot (1967), 56
MoPBW (1968) Ministry of Public Buildings and Works. 'Archaeological Excavations 1968'. Archaeol Excav (1968), 31
Morris, R W B (1981) The prehistoric rock art of southern Scotland (except Argyll and Galloway). Brit Archaeol Rep, BAR British Ser 86. Oxford
RCAHMS (1929) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Tenth report with Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the Counties of Midlothian and West Lothian. HMSO: Edinburgh
DoE (1970) Department of the Environment. 'Kaimes, Midlothian'. Disc Exc Scot (1970), 58
Simpson, D D A (1969) 'Excavations at Kaimes Hillfort, Midlothian, 1964-1968'. Glasgow Archaeol J 1 (1969), 7-28
Simpson, D D A (1971) Kaimes Hill'. Archaeol Excav (1971), 39
Simpson, D D A (1972) Kaimes Hill'. Archaeol Excav (1972), 15
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
Document Version 1.1